


Operation MYRJ

by VerityXxX



Series: White Boots [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: Allmylittlebabiestogether, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Jealousy, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-07 14:53:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 84,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerityXxX/pseuds/VerityXxX
Summary: Zhenya finally gets fed up with her friendship with Yuzuru not going anywhere. One night when she's slightly drunk she decides with the other girls on the tour to see if she can make Yuzu jealous.Russian Translation—https://ficbook.net/readfic/7079121





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based off a plot bunny which I couldn't get rid of so I decided I needed to get it written down on my computer and post it. It hasn't been extensively proofread or beta'd as it's really late and so if you notice any errors please tell me so I can fix it. Please tell me what you think about the idea of this as I am relatively excited but I have really big exams at the moment so I may struggle to update and stay motivated.  
> This is set during an imaginary tour which occurs with the knowledge that Zhenya is leaving Eteri and with most of the same skaters as SOI with a few additions and exceptions.

“What are you wearing tonight,” Alina said from where she was sitting perched on the edge of Zhenya’s bed.

Zhenya kicked the door of their shared en suite bathroom open as she wrangled with her hair that she was frantically towel dying. “I need to dry this mess first.” She was stressing about being ready for the party held on the first night of the Stars on Ice tour. It was an annual thing she’d been attending since she won her first world championship but Alina hadn’t gone before so Zhenya agreed to go with her. Otherwise she would have probably stayed in her room to watch anime—Zhenya found herself preferring solitude increasingly often recently. Regardless her problem at the moment was her wet hair and finding clothes to wear. “You look nice,” she said to Alina smiling.

The younger girl who Zhenya had to remind herself was still just fifteen smiled modestly, “Thanks Zhen. Do you think it will be appropriate?” Alina was dressed in a sweet dress, which Zhenya approved of in her position as Alina’s training partner and surrogate older sister. The girl looked appropriate for the party, which was wild only for figure skaters whilst not aging or making her look older than her age. 

“You look perfect,” Zhenya reassured. “I love your curls when you don’t straighten your hair.” Zhenya still slightly unsatisfied with her hair abandoned the towel and instead letting her hair hang down in damp strands turned towards the wardrobe.

“Thanks. They don’t rival Sasha’s hair though,” Alina laughed before pushing herself up to her feet and helping Zhenya rifle through the clothes she’d unpacked only a few hours beforehand. A few moments passed in companionable silence, “I like this.”

Zhenya appraised the garment for a few seconds before smiling, “I like it.”

….

The music was already playing by the time Zhenya and Alina entered the lounge room that had been designated to be the party room. Someone who she had a high suspicion was either Javier or Patrick had decorated the room with some streamers and if she could see correctly there was even bunting on the far wall. Unfortunately they had also clearly set the music that was playing out of the speakers and whilst Zhenya could already see Alina’s head nodding from side to side it wasn’t exactly to Zhenya’s taste. 

“Zhenya I thought you’re not coming here tonight,” Wakaba said bounding across the room with the same grace that was displayed on the ice in her massive high heels. 

Zhenya shook her head, “Alina convinced me to come.” The music was loud and Zhenya was forced to holler over to talk to Wakaba. 

“Wanna dance,” Wakaba said close enough to them now that they didn’t have to yell at each other anymore.

Zhenya glanced to her side feeling Alina’s slightly awkward presence, “I’ll be back. I need a drink but you can dance with Alina for now.” Leaving the two skaters together Zhenya ducked and weaved though the crowd with practised ease. 

When she finally turned back upon reaching the table that the drinks had been set up on she quickly spotted Alina with Wakaba in the middle of the crowd as she poured herself a drink. Alina had metaphorically and literally let her hair down from her tight bun and Zhenya couldn’t be prouder but she couldn’t help but feel cold. Normally she always was the centre of the group and instead now she was on the outside whether it was her choice or not. 

She downed her glass of some liquor that Zhenya couldn’t recognise before pouring herself another, which she downed in quick succession. It burnt on the way down but it felt less satisfying than it had when she was younger and still technically underage. Grabbing a third glass Zhenya started drinking it before feeling a faint cloud of alcohol settle over her mind. Turning back to the large crowd Zhenya finished her glass before finding Katya and with her inhibitions lowered started to dance.

The evening passed in a blur of movement with her hair that was still wet when she had arrived drying as she twirled around and her head spinning even faster. She couldn’t tell how much time had past or how many people she was dancing with feeling finally free for the first time in what felt like so long being bound in Eteri’s mould. But she was leaving Eteri in favour for Orser and she didn’t need to be that scared child anymore who was terrified of letting her down.

Finally becoming aware of the pain in her feet Zhenya pushed her way through the crowd to the edge of the room where there was some chairs set up. Sitting down on the chair Zhenya eased of her heels. They weren’t high but compared to the skates and trainers she was accustomed to they were killing her feet. Tossing the shoes onto the ground Zhenya outstretched one hand to massage her temples. 

“You having fun,” Zhenya heard a voice say from beside her accompanied with the sound of someone sitting down on a chair beside her. 

She turned her head to see that Yuzu had settled beside her, “I was.” She paused tilting her head slightly at the man who was sitting beside her. “You weren’t dancing were you?” Her thoughts felt slow like toffee and she couldn’t put more than one or two thoughts together.

Yuzu looked down at his ankle, “I didn’t want to.”

Zhenya looked down somehow conscious of the lines Yuzu was drawing though at the same time in her inebriated out of control state she danced past them with an insolent smile. “You wanna come outside with me,” Zhenya said leaning towards Yuzu.

He almost laughed but instead stood up extending a hand towards Zhenya, which she took with a half-smile. Reaching her feet unsteadily Zhenya balanced herself with one hand flailing around whilst the other gripped onto Yuzu’s hand with all the strength that she could muster. 

He wrapped an arm around Zhenya to support her and prevent her from falling down. His touch was warm and Zhenya felt herself curl into it as and they headed outside onto the balcony attached to the suite of rooms the part was in. Yuzu pushed the door open and two figures quickly flitted in from the end of the balcony but with the darkness Zhenya couldn’t recognise them despite her curiosity. 

“You good there,” he said as they entered the darkness that enshrouded the balcony. The pair separated from each other whist remaining a few centimetres apart so that they could still make out each other’s faces.

Zhenya tried to push her hands into her pockets before forgetting that this damned dress didn’t have any. “This dress doesn’t have any pockets.”

He laughed at Zhenya and the girl pouted back at him in a manner that she thought was charming. “You’re a special one Zhenya.”

“I know” Zhenya said stepping forwards close to him. Without her shoes on he was five to six inches taller than Zhenya but Zhenya didn’t find the difference in height intimidating. Instead in combination with the dark that surrounded me and the seemingly gallons of alcohol she had drunk that night she found it all rather intoxicating. 

Yuzu squinted at Zhenya, “Are you okay Zhenya.” 

“Yeah I think so,” Zhenya said looking down at her feet for a second as though she was shy. Then seemingly taken over the alcohol and feeling numb though her body Zhenya leant up onto her tiptoes and grabbing onto Yuzu’s shoulders for balance leant in as though she was going to kiss him.

Yuzu stepped away pushing his way out of Zhenya’s arms almost allowing her to overbalance away from Yuzu and out of control but he grabbed her with one hand and propped her up brusquely. “I need to go Zhenya this isn’t right.”

As she watched him leave through the door and back into the light Zhenya felt the warmth generated from his presence leave her and suddenly she was aware of how the stone floor was leeching heat from her bare feet. 

Suddenly Zhenya felt the drunken haze that had engulfed her lift and she realised exactly what she had just done. Sliding down so that she was sitting on the ground Zhenya pressed her hands against her eyes to stop the tears from coming out. She was such an idiot—such a stupid wasted idiot who was completely out of control and throwing herself at girl like the useless girl that his fans accused her of being. 

She sat there for longer than she knew until she stopped shivering from the cold and instead just felt numb. Finally when she was just about to close her eyes Zhenya heard a person coming into the balcony and before she knew it countless hands were pulling Zhenya up and hauling her towards the door and back to Alina and Zhenya’s shared room.

…

When Zhenya finally opened her eyes she was surrounded by several of her best friends among the ladies figure skating who were all whispering at each other furiously. “What’s happening?” she asked blearily.

“We’re plotting vengeance,” Wakaba said cheerily from her position between Satoko and Kaetlyn who were both looking quite dubious about the entire thing. 

Tessa, the unofficial mother of the group, wrapped Zhenya in a one arm hug. “You do know that Yuzu like you Zhenya.”

“Really,” Zhenya added non-committedly.

Kaetlyn held back a snort, “We can all see it okay Zhenya there’s been something there since at least last year’s grand prix final.”

“And don’t pretend you don’t like him you’ve been talking about him for years,” Alina piped up from where she was sitting on her bed leaning against the wall.

Zhenya shot glares at both of them, “Well regardless he clearly doesn’t want me so this is all pointless. He literally said that this wasn’t a good idea.”

“Interesting,” Tessa said pausing thoughtfully. “Well in that case it’s obvious.” 

“What are you thinking,” Gabby interjected into the conversation with a worried expression on her face as though she had heard too many of Tessa’s brilliant plans.

Tessa paused allowing a Machiavellian smile to play across her face and Zhenya was almost terrified, “we need to make Yuzu jealous.”

A cacophony of noise erupted from around the small room as everyone had something to say for themselves about Tessa’s idea. Zhenya sat almost shellshock as she watched even quiet Satoko become worked up as she argued with the others vehemently. Across the room on the other bed however she could see Alina who was had fallen asleep leaning against the wall with her head tilted to the side.

“Enough guys,” Zhenya shushed the other girls who were still awake. “Alina is asleep.” They all turned around to check on the 15 year old who was the youngest person on the tour and was currently snoring lightly. 

“It’s a good idea,” Wakaba said whispering to the other girls. “This way if he doesn’t feel anything then Zhenya won’t humiliate herself and will instead force him to take action.”

“Thanks Waka,” Zhenya said sarcastically. “Nice to know that I clearly humiliate myself regularly.

“No worries.” Wakaba said smirking back towards Zhenya.

Satoko whispered, “What are we going to call this plan.”

“Operation MYRJ,” Kaetlyn said as though it was a great pronunciation of intelligence. Everyone else including Zhenya turned to look at Kaetlyn confused about what she was going on about. “Operation Make Yuzu Really Jealous—it’s an acronym.”

Gabby paused before grinning, “Operation MYRJSHSH.”

“Wait what,” Zhenya asked trying to fit words to each letter to complete whatever sentence that Gabby was thinking of.

“Make Yuzu Really Jealous So He Shags Her,” Satoko answered filling in the missing words with a disapproving expression on her face. 

“Gabby,” Zhenya hissed starting to get annoyed now at the other girls. 

Gabby rolled her eyes, “Fine then just Operation MYRJ.”

“Pinkies in,” Tessa said outstretching one pinkie into the middle.

The other skaters all put forwards a pinkie towards Tessa’s except the sleeping Alina until all 5 pinkies where touching each other in the centre except Zhenya’s. Kaetlyn who was sitting on the ground beside Zhenya grabbed Zhenya’s little finger and put it in the middle with the remaining fingers despite Zhenya’s resistance.

The six girls pushing their fingers together chanted the four letters as though they were doing a school chant for sports before locking them together one after another in order to seal the deal.


	2. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone likes this chapter which is just a really short one to basically finish setting up the characters for all of the drama which will be coming their way. I hope I'm keeping the characters relatively in character but will be the first to admit that I only really follow a few properly so please tell me if there's anything I make a mistake about. Thanks so much to everyone has commented or left kudos because I really appreciate you taking time to say something about my work.

Zhenya woke up the next morning with a splitting headache that in addition to the gaps in her memory meant that Zhenya was almost confident that she had drunken significantly more than she should of. Propping herself on her elbows she squinted across the room at Alina who was awake and already dressed for the day, “What happened last night.”

“You got wasted Zhenchka,” the younger girl chided fixing Zhenya with a mildly reproachful gaze. She was folding her crumpled clothes up from last night and Zhenya was almost 100% certain that despite Alina’s polished demeanour this morning she had most likely slept in that same garment. 

Zhenya laughed pulling herself up into a sitting position, “I realised that Lina but what did I do. I only remember fragments of last night and nothing that I remember really fits together.”

Alina laughed before setting down her folded clothes and perching on the end of Zhenya’s bed, “So what do you remember.”

…

Equipped with hazy knowledge of the night before Zhenya positively marched into the breakfast hall fuming. She was such an idiot last night why did she drink so much and loose control of herself. She’d completely humiliated herself last night with Yuzu who clearly thought she was just a silly child and furthermore knowing Wakaba and Kaetlyn, in particular Zhenya would be tied to their stupid plan of making Yuzu jealous. 

Alina hadn’t been able to give Zhenya all of the details however because she had fallen asleep halfway through the meeting the night before so Zhenya needed to hunt down Satoko as the only one of the girls who had been there who could actually be relied upon to tell Zhenya the full story and not twist it in attempt to play a prank on her. 

“Satoko,” Zhenya hissed sidling into the queue behind the shorter girl. “What was talked about last night.”

“Not much apart from you trying to give Patrick a lap dance,” Gabby said turning around from where she was ladling porridge into a bowel for her breakfast.

Zhenya blanched terrified for a second. She’d really messed it up now what was she going to say what would everyone think of her, “Alina didn’t mention that to me this morning.” 

“She was asleep by then,” Gabby said shrugging nonchalantly before stepping out of the queue and heading towards the table where Kaetlyn and Tessa were already sitting. 

Zhenya paused stupefied as Satoko moved forwards to the breakfast bar. “That didn’t happen did it,” She asked hurrying after the petit Japanese girl desperate for there to have been a miscommunication. 

Satoko gave her a quizzical look as she poured herself a glass of milk, “This is Gabby we’re talking about.” With those words she walked off to where the other girls were sitting.

Zhenya stewed as she aggressively spread nutella across some toast. It wasn’t Eteri approved but it was the off-season so she didn't really care about what her ex-coach would say. She thought for a second about the Japanese girl's statement before realising what she was getting at. Gabby had clearly been playing a trick on her. 

Her confusion now changed into anger Zhenya strode over to the table to where Gabby was sitting only now noticing that the entire group was sniggering into their hands before slamming her meal onto the table beside Gabby. “Excuse me Miss Daleman,” she asked sitting herself down next to the Canadian. “Thanks a lot.”

“Your face was funny,” Gabby protested tossing her ponytail behind one shoulder. “You were actually terrified for a good few seconds.”

Zhenya looked around still irritated at the other girls around the table who were all succeeding with various success at concealing their laughter before breaking out into laughter. “You got me good Gabs I’ll give you that.’

Gabby and Kaetlyn fist bumped across the table and the entire table erupted back into laughter Zhenya joining in more than willingly.

“Do I still need to do this crazy plan to make Yuzu jealous though if I do not remember it,” Zhenya complained as soon as the laughter subsiding hoping that she would be able to get out of doing this stupid plan. 

No one responded and instead just stared at a spot six inches above Zhenya’s head with slight expressions of dread. Zhenya squinted at the other girls around her confused until Tessa made a small hand gesture towards Zhenya prompting her to turn in her seat to look behind her.

Yuzu was standing behind her looking down his expression almost completely indecipherable. Zhenya shrunk into her seat away from his gaze hoping against hope that he hadn’t heard what she had just said to the other girls. “Can I talk to you Evgenia,” He asked finally his tone incredibly cold.

Feeling somewhat as though she was heading to her execution Zhenya stood up slowly and followed Yuzu to the side of the dining hall away from the other skaters. She glanced back to see Wakaba flashing her a pair of thumb’s up and Alina smiling at her encouragingly. 

“I need to talk to you about last night,” Yuzu said his voice stilted and he looked almost disgusted in Zhenya.

Zhenya ran her hands through the ends of her hair, “I guessed so. Just warning I don’t remember most of last night and my timeline is a bit messed up.”

Yuzuru paused now slightly confused about the entire situation as it hadn’t gone exactly as he had planned it to go. He was a notorious perfectionist and he disliked it when things didn’t go his way. “But you remember the balcony don’t you?” he asked his eyes deadly earnest.

Zhenya looked down unable to meet his eyes. She remembered those ten minutes completely clearly—the only part of that night before her bedroom that was in focus. He had been so different then and he was calm and relaxed with her whilst now he was completely uptight and hard. “What happened on the balcony?” she lied feeling slightly sick in her stomach.

Yuzu brushed his hand through his hair now completely shaken up and confused about what Zhenya had just said. “You don’t remember anything?”

Zhenya shook her head slowly as though she was forced to, “It was cold out here but not much else. Did something happen.” 

Her voice sounded overly surprised to Zhenya’s own ears and completely fake but Yuzu seemingly bought it and if she identified his expression correctly he was relieved. “Thank god,” he said with a heavy exhale running his hand through his hair again. “Nothing happened it was just a silly mistake don’t worry. I think you’d drunk too much. It’s much better that you don’t remember it obviously. It’s really boring looking back on it—“ 

“You done?” Zhenya said her voice cold as she interrupted Yuzu in mid-spiel. “I need to get back to the others and to finish my breakfast.” She turned on one heel and hurried back to the other girls. It was a mistake she knew that last night but did Yuzu have to act so relieved that she didn’t remember. Didn’t she have a right to her non-forgotten memories and wouldn’t he think that it was important for her to know. They were supposed to be friends.

Zhenya sat down quickly in her seat once she arrived at the table and shoved a massive bite of her Nutella toast into her mouth and chewed it insolently whilst the others all stared at her slightly shell-shocked. She glanced back finally to see Yuzu still leaning against the wall he had brought her aside to and with an expression that she couldn’t pin down on his face. 

She swallowed hard before switching her gaze back from Yuzu to the other girl and she lifted her chin slightly as though to assert herself into the conversation, “So who do you think I should go for first.”


	3. Fallin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is chapter 3 of MYRJ. I hope everyone likes it as after the setup chapters the drama is starting between Zhenya and Yuzuru. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or left kudos on this as it makes me really happy and inspired to know that people are enjoying what I'm writing and congrats to xasgardiangirl for predicting what was going to happen in this chapter which is making me feel like I'm going to have to through some curve balls in to trip you up. Tell me if you guys like having Yuzuru 's perspective in their cause I'm still not 100% sure whether I want to tell the story solely from Zhenya's POV, both of theirs or even including some of the other tour members. I'll try to update as soon as possible with the next chapter and I hope you enjoy.

“Nathan,” Zhenya said calling over the young American skater at the end of a group rehearsal. “Can you do me a favour?” 

They had settled on Nathan because he was the only one who was a threat to Yuzu base value and one of the few people who was able to beat Yuzu when he was on as could be seen at the Olympics. He was also one of the male skater’s closest to Zhenya’s age on the team and they’d become friends since their respective disappointment at Pyeongchang with neither of them able to live up to the hype around them. 

He turned around smiling brilliantly at Zhenya and she felt somewhat guilty, “What do you need.”

“Would you be able to help me go over the choreography for the group routine? I’m just a bit behind because of my foot.” It wasn’t a complete lie Zhenya had been struggling slightly in keeping up with the group routines that were being choreographed quite fast especially considering she had restricted time on the ice. Normally, however, she’d be too proud to ask anyone for help. “I’d ask some of the girls but they’re planning a shopping trip as there are no practices this afternoon and I really want to get this sorted now.”

Nathan stared at Zhenya with an expression of confusion and Zhenya just smiled in response. “Are you sure that you wanted me to help you. Wouldn’t you ask like Yuzu or Misha?”

“If I didn’t want you to help me I wouldn’t have asked you,” Zhenya said rolling her eyes. “Besides I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I think Yuzu is kinda mad at me at the moment so I want to keep away.” It wasn’t a lie Yuzu was annoyed at Zhenya and she didn’t really want to have to ask him for any favours. 

“Yuzu’s mad at you,” Nathan scoffed slightly bemused. “But no I’ll help you if that’s what you want—I’m free right now if that’s good.”

“Sounds great,” Zhenya said smiling charismatically. “Meet back here in five.”

…

As Nathan and Zhenya approached the main ice rink Zhenya spotted two dark figure on the far side of the rink. If part 2 of stage 1 had been carried out correctly then they would be Gabby and Yuzu who would be rehearsing together. They were both friends from TCC and that was why Gabby had been tasked with making sure that Yuzu would be in the right place at the right time. 

“You okay that Yuzu’s on the ice?” Nathan asked and Zhenya felt bad for misleading him considering that he was being so kind and sweet towards her. 

Zhenya tilted her head to one side as though she was thinking about the question, “I think it should be fine we can just stick to the other side of the rink.”

“If you’re cool with that than I am,” Nathan said shrugging before sliding the guards of his blades and stepping onto the ice. He spun around to face Zhenya smiling, “Hurry up old lady.”

Zhenya laughed before quickly yanking her guards off and following Nathan onto the ice. “I’m six months younger than you,” she called out as she dashed onto the ice behind him. “You’re the old man in this relationship.” 

Zhenya sped up until she was about to catch Nathan when she realised the reason he had slowed down due to his preparation for a jump. She stopped short in her tracks before Nathan jumped into a quad salchow, which he fell on and he just sat sprawled out on the ice almost in shock.

“So as much as you might be enjoying your quad fest over there. We need to work on this choreo,” Zhenya said laughing at Nathan’s petulant expression. She skated over to offer him a hand to pull him up. 

He took it but instead of pulling himself up he instead gave Zhenya’s hand a yank sending her crashing down to the ice. Her bad foot hit the ice hard as she fell down and Zhenya’s eyes smarted with tears from the pain. “Oww,” she whimpered slightly pulling her foot back up towards her chest to cradle it. 

“Shit Zhenya are you okay,” Nathan said stopping laughing and was instead looking worried. “Is it your foot?”

“Yep,” Zhenya said between gritted teeth. She wasn’t going to let this stupid foot make her look any weaker than it had already rendered her. “Can you help me up?”

Nathan got to his feet quickly before outstretching a hand which Zhenya took as quickly as she could using it to pull herself onto her two feet. She took a step or two forwards on the ice but as she put pressure on her injured foot she felt it give way slightly beneath her and slipped back onto the ground. “I think my foot’s worse than I thought it would be.”

“What’s going on over here,” Yuzu said finally skating over from his corner closely pursued by Gabby. Their plan was clearly starting to go wrong considering that they hadn’t planned for any of this. Zhenya looked up at his figure in front of her and wanted to shrink into the ice that she was already sitting on. “What did Zhenya do?”

Zhenya cringed into the ice at his accusatory tone unable to say anything to defend herself. “We were just mucking around—it’s my fault I tripped her up,” Nathan said earnestly in an attempt to deflect the focus from Zhenya to himself. 

“Typical. It’s not like one should expect much more from the pair of you,” Yuzu said his tone harsh and Zhenya could see on Gabby’s face her shock at hearing what Yuzu was saying.

Zhenya grabbed hold of Nathan’s arm and used it to leverage herself up from the ground in an attempt to assert herself back into the conversation whilst keeping the majority of her weight on her good foot. “I just slipped its no big deal. Why do you care anyway about it?”

“Come on Yuzu,” Gabby said resting a hand on the Japanese skater's arm calmingly. “Why don’t you finish showing me your new exhibition program.” Zhenya smiled at the Canadian woman gratefully for trying to relieve the tension. She had scarcely spoken to Gabby a lot before this year but since their mutual disappointments at the Olympics and Zhenya’s planned move to Orser, Zhenya had come to admire her feisty spirit. 

Yuzu cast a disapproving glance at Zhenya and she realised she was still holding onto Nathan’s arm for support. She released it quickly and instead tucked her hands into her hoodies pockets. She looked up and met his eyes, which were fixed on her and held his gaze with as much strength as she could muster. The four of them stood there frozen for longer than Zhenya could tell and she was about to surrender and give in and look away from him breaking the stalemate when Yuzu tore his eyes away from her and turning skated away to the other side of the rink. 

Everyone else snapped into motion with Gabby smiling sympathetically at Zhenya before following Yuzu to where he had gone and Zhenya could hear her starting to berate him. “Are you okay,” Nathan asked. “Yuzu was really harsh towards you.”

“I told you he was mad at me,” Zhenya said mustering up a weak laugh. “Now can you help me get to the side before I fracture my foot again.”

“I’d be honoured,” Nathan said taking Zhenya’s hand and pulling her towards the edge of the rink gently whilst she balanced carefully on her good foot.

…

“You all right there?” Gabby asked but Yuzu didn’t respond. He was scarcely listening to her, to be honest. He was just so confused—he wasn’t sure what he had missed but clearly, there had been a miscommunication somewhere between him and Zhenya.

They were friends weren’t they good friends. But since that party or even since the Olympics it hadn’t been the same and Yuzu wasn’t sure why or what had changed between them. He’d been excited to be her training partner next year as he believed that she’d be able to push him and he her but now he didn’t know what to think.

It was common courtesy at that party when she had been drunk to not kiss her and turn her away. She was completely out of her mind –she didn’t even remember what happened the next day—and besides, they weren’t friends like that even if she was one of his closest friends who just happened to be female. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t told her about the kiss that hadn’t been but it wasn’t important as nothing had ended up happening and Yuzu didn’t want to put any strain on their friendship but clearly Zhenya remembered something of it based off of her actions. 

But that was it her actions had been completely off recently. At breakfast, she had been significantly harsher than she had used to be and seemed almost irritated at his presence unlike normal when if anything she wanted to be around him. Then now she was insolent towards him and whilst she had tried to play it off as though she was joking Yuzu was aware that she was completely earnest. Besides how long had she even been friends with Chen. It’s not like they were both from Russia or friends he never remembered Zhenya talking to him before now. 

He glanced to the side where he saw Nathan on the ice demonstrating the group choreography to Zhenya who was sitting perched on the barrier between the ice and the arena laughing. She looked as though she was about to take flight and was lit up in a way she hadn’t often been since Pyeongchang. He didn’t understand why if anything Chen was trying to ruin her future career as a figure skater by fooling around on the ice the way they had been. It was completely irresponsible on both their parts and as their senior Yuzu completely disapproved of their actions. 

“Yuzu are you there,” Gabby asked loudly and Yuzu only just became aware that he was still on the ice and in the middle of a conversation. 

He blinked twice at her disorientated before snapping back into focus, “Yes. What do you want.”

Gabby laughed at his abrupt tone, “To check if you’re okay you look shaken up.”

“I’m fine,” Yuzu said dismissively. He could hear Zhenya’s laughter in his ears from across the rink and when he glanced back he could see her bad foot dangling down limply from where she was sitting. That was it he told himself. He was just being concerned for her because she was coming off an injury just like him and he didn’t want her to hurt herself again. He was just being overprotective of a friend and there was nothing wrong with that.


	4. That's mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's chapter 4 as promised. Just a bit of my little beans having fun and sowing the seeds for the drama later on. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and thanks to everyone who has left a comment or kudos because I really appreciate it. As a proud Brit I feel obliged to dedicate this chapter to Megan and Harry especially considering I wrote this chapter whilst watching the wedding. Finally this is a little plug but can everyone reading this if possible go to this link and nominate for Zhenya and Yuzu for being the badasses that they are. https://twitter.com/teenchoicefox/status/997546360588193792?s=21

“Yuzuru are you okay there,” Javier said addressing Yuzu. 

The Japanese figure skater looked up at the Spaniard with bleary eyes. He’d been trying to nap but his training mate was unwilling to leave to him alone, as he seemed to believe that Yuzu would feel better if he talked it out with him. It’s not as though Javier’s some kind of therapist and it’s not like there’s anything Yuzu needs to get out of his system. “I’m fine,” Yuzu grumbled annoyed.

“I’ve trained with you for over 5 years now Yuzuru. If anyone knows when something is wrong with you it would be me,” Javier said from where he sat on a chair close to the sofa that Yuzu was lying on.

Yuzuru frowned, “Nothing since Pyeongchang has made sense to me. It was supposed to be amazing and I won the gold but I’m not sure—something is missing.” 

“I get what you mean. I still can’t believe that it was only a few months ago. It feels like years ago and you’re right in that it was oddly anti-climatic.” Javier agreed but that wasn’t what Yuzu meant exactly. 

“I guess. I didn’t expect anything from the games. Part of me feels like I might just wake up and have to do it all over again.” Yuzu said trying to put his finger on the odd bittersweet feeling that he was feeling and work out his confusion.

Javier laughed, “You are going to have to do it again in 4 years. There’s a reason that I’m retiring—I’m too old to do it again.”

“Bejing,” Yuzu said laughing. He had scarcely even though about the next Olympics coming up except to try to work out whether he would be the first man to win three back-to-back Olympic gold medals. “I can’t even think that so far ahead anymore. There’s so much that I can’t predict within this sport like my ankle or Zhenya’s foot injury which lost her the Olympic gold medal.”

“It’s been a crazy season,” Javier acknowledged. “Why do you mention Evgenia?”

Yuzu bristled slightly confused by the question, “She lost the most from her injury—I was still able to win the gold but she wasn’t.”

“You guys are friends right,” Javier said in his peculiar measured way that Yuzu had grown used to over the years. “She’ll be your training partner next year right.”

“I’m willing for her to be but I’m not sure about whether Zhenya would be,” Yuzu said slightly unsure about the correct answer that Javier was aiming for. Javier had a tendency to offer Yuzuru loaded questions to which he would feel it was impossible to find a correct answer. 

Javier fixed his eyes on Yuzu hard but yet incredibly in control and measured, “Why do you say that? I thought you two were friends?”  
“I thought so too but I’m not sure anymore. She’s been avoiding me since the start of tour and has been hanging out with everyone except me.” Yuzu grumbled needing to let it off his chest a little. 

“And by everyone you mean…” Javier said raising an eyebrow as he attempted to lead Yuzuru to the point that he was making. 

Yuzu frowned. How did Javier always know exactly what questions to ask to get to the root of whatever was on his mind. “Chen especially,” Yuzu admitted reluctantly. He didn’t understand what Javier was getting at.

“The six quad maestro,” Javier commented and Yuzu nodded glumly. “You can say what you like but Zhenya has taste.”

“It’s clearly declining,” Yuzu said frowning. He was nothing like Chen. The boy might have beaten him once or twice but it wasn’t truly a comparison between him and the American. 

“Savage,” a voice said from the corner and when Yuzu turned around he saw Scott in the doorway where he had been standing for god knows how long. “Anyways Tessa wants everyone on the rink in 10 minutes so get ready.

…

“What are you doing,” Zhenya asked smacking Nathan’s hands away from her beverage of choice—hot chocolate. Zhenya would never turn down chocolate in any form but that also meant in turn that she would defend her chocolate fiercely.

Nathan smiled at Zhenya winningly, “Do you trust me?”

“Can I say no?” Zhenya quipped back smirking at the American skater. In the last few days Nathan and Zhenya had been hanging out a bit and whilst at first she’d only been doing it as part of the plan after a short amount of time she found that she enjoyed his friendship and their relaxed banter back and forth. Even when she hung out with Yuzu a lot they’d had a very different friendship, which was quieter and subtler though they’d had their share of laughs.

Nathan tilted his head slightly to the side as though he was thinking before shaking his head, “Nope. Pass the hot chocolate Zhenya.”

“But it’s mine,” Zhenya said holding her hot chocolate tight between her palms. “What are you going to do with it.”

“Elevate it to the next level of hot chocolate,” Nathan said with a completely dead pan expression and Zhenya laughing slide her hot chocolate across the table. Nathan having caught her mug rose to his feet and started walking off with her hot chocolate.

Zhenya sprung to her feet and followed her hot chocolate, which was imprisoned in Nathan’s grasp, “Where are we going.”

“Somewhere,” Nathan said cryptically before taking several turns one after another. Zhenya tried to imagine the path that Nathan was taking in her head and work out where exactly Nathan would be leading her. “Keep up,” Nathan said stepping his speed up a bit and Zhenya sped up her stride until she was moving at a slight jog.

“That’s not every useful,” Zhenya said complaining at the useless pieces of information that he was giving her. She looked around finally starting to recognise where they were going. She’d been down this corridor once before with Wakaba. “Isn’t this the way to Shoma’s room.”

Nathan laughed raising an eyebrow, “Do I want to know why you know where Shoma’s room is. Besides the boys rooms are all together I’m two doors down from Shoma, one door up from Javier and opposite to Hanyu’s.”

“I was with Wakaba we had to wake him up,” Zhenya protested half-heartedly. “Wait so we are going to your room? This is rather forward of you Mr Chen.”

“Well I can assure you my intentions are thoughly honourable Tsarina.” Nathan jibed back linking his free arm with Zhenya’s.

Zhenya laughed before her face fell slightly at hearing her old nickname from her fans, “No one’s called me that..” Her voice trailed off weakly as though she was unwilling to give voice to her thoughts.

“Since the Olympics,” Nathan finished sympathetically but Zhenya could see in his face something that made her feel that he was in a similar position to her. He was America’s golden boy after all and winning at worlds was only a small consolidation for the American public after his disastrous skate at the Olympics. 

Zhenya leant her head on Nathan’s shoulder, “Yep.” They walked like that slightly uncomfortable for a few minutes before she tilted her head to look up at Nathan. “Can I have my hot chocolate back.”

“No,” Nathan said yanking the mug away from Zhenya’s outstretched hand. “Besides we’re at my room so I can show you what I was coming here for.”

“But my hot chocolate is going to be cold,” Zhenya whined watching whilst Nathan pulled out his key card and unlocked the door to his room. “This better be worth it.” 

“Believe me it will,” Nathan joked before twisting the door handle and letting the pair of them into the room. 

He set the mug down on the table and Zhenya was tempted to grab it but she decided to have trust in Nathan even if her love of chocolate normally superseded mortal bonds. He busied around in his pack for thirty seconds pulling out random oddments of clothes that he scattered around the room. It was already a mess enough and Zhenya, who was normally more relaxed about mess than Alina who would scrub their room clean if she could, was getting stressed out by the cluttered surroundings. 

“I found it,” Nathan said triumphantly before spinning round holding a bottle with a brown sauce in it and what looked to be a packet of marshmallows. His hair was dishevelled and all over the place as though he had been through some intense experience instead of just rifling through his rucksack. “Pass me the hot chocolate.”

Zhenya looked at him appraisingly for a seconds before passing him the mug dubiously, “What are you doing”

“Wait so you actually have never had hot chocolate with marshmallows,” Nathan asked confused now. “I thought you were just not sure where we were going. Well prepare to be amazed.”

“You’re defiling my cold hot chocolate with marshmallows,” Zhenya asked teasingly.

“Maybe,” Nathan said not meeting Zhenya’s eyes as he busied himself with the hot chocolate. He squirted a layer of the brown substance into her mug before dropping the marshmallows into the mug with a flourish before handing it to her.

Zhenya sniffed it dubiously, “This better be worth it.” She sipped the drink slowly tasting the slightly salty edge of what must have been salted caramel that he had added in combination with the sweetness of the marshmallow and the richness of the chocolate. She looked up slightly in shock, “This is really good—even if it’s a bit lukewarm.”

“I carry my secret ingredients everywhere I go. I have mastered the art of making hot chocolate as it’s my favourite snack for after the cold of skating.” Nathan said laughing leaning back against his chest of drawers. “So you like it? Normally it would still be piping hot but circumstances” he asked tentatively but slightly nervous.

“Yes you were right and I was wrong,” Zhenya said rolling her eyes. “It’s almost as sugary and unhealthy as you.”

Nathan gave her a crooked smile, “Should I be offended by that.”

“I mean it in all the best ways,” Zhenya said smiling as she sipped her hot chocolate slowly savouring the amazing taste.

“Good,” Nathan said watching Zhenya carefully and she averted her eyes staring downwards into the swirling whirls of the drink.  
“Nathan man you in there,” A voice said from the door that Zhenya identified as Scott’s. “Your door is open.”

Nathan glanced at Zhenya in surprise before heading towards the door around the corner where Zhenya assumed that Scott was standing. “Yeah mate what is it?”

“Group rehearsal. Tessa sent me to get the guys she’s getting the girls together.”

“Sure we’re coming,” Nathan said glancing back towards Zhenya who was frozen in the middle of his room sipping at her hot drink. Zhenya rolled her eyes and sighed before snapping into action and following Nathan to the door.

“We,” She heard a voice that she recognised by its lilting Spanish accent say just as she rounded the corner.

It hadn’t been just Scott like she had presumed but Javier who’s voice she had just recognised and Yuzu who up till then had been silent. “Hey,” she said self-consciously from her place by Nathan’s side clutching the handle of her mug as tightly as she could.

“We have training,” Javier mustered whilst Scott and Yuzu seemed flabbergasted in the face of Zhenya emerging from Nathan’s bedroom. It hadn’t been planned and their conversation had happened spontaneously but it clearly wasn’t a bad thing if Yuzu happened to see it Zhenya thought to herself feeling slightly guilty. 

“Perfect we’re just coming,” Nathan said trying to alleviate the tension that had settled around the small group.

Zhenya forced herself to laugh at what Nathan was saying as though it was funny, “Well I guess I’m not going to be able to enjoy my hot chocolate then.” She gulped down the hot chocolate letting it scald her throat and mouth to give her an excuse not to look at Yuzu who had been staring at her every second since she had emerged from Nathan’s room and if Zhenya dared to name the emotion that she could see on his face it’d be anger.

…

“Is everyone present?” Tessa asked from where she stood at the front of the assembled group. Zhenya had quickly hopped over from where she had been standing awkwardly between Nathan and Yuzu to stand with her girls on the other side of the group. 

There were a series of chimes of agreement from throughout the crowd in response to Tessa’s question as people looked around to see if they could work out whoever was missing. “Shoma’s not here,” Satoko pointed out after a moment or two.

“Is everyone whose not asleep present,” Scott repeated from beside Tessa. The way he stood made him look like some kind of mob enforcer to the king pin that was Tessa. “If so we’re announcing the small groups for the tour. These are subject to change as the tour continues and you will have to come up with the choreo and music yourself so you will only be allocated one in addition to your solo routines and exhibitions.”

Zhenya heard the skaters around her whisper in excitement and even confusion. Small groups weren’t exactly a new thing in skating shows but normally they didn’t have to do the choreo and music themselves and instead professionals would be brought in. “

Anyway,” Tessa said raising her voice above the din and casting a disgruntled look at Scott as Zhenya guessed he’d broken from the protocol. “These are the groups and they are non negotiable unless we have solid reasoning as to why a partnership should not work: Kaetlyn, Wakaba, Gabby and I will have a quartet; Alina and Satoko will perform a duet; Boyang, Shoma and Nathan will perform together whilst the resident veterans Scott, Javier and Patrick will do a trio.” 

She paused for a moment and Zhenya looked around trying to work out who else hadn’t been called until she looked at Tessa and her trademark devious smile and suddenly it made sense. “Finally Zhenya will be paired with Yuzu after all the demands for them to perform a duet together last year.”

There was a clamour of noise once Tessa had stopped speaking and Zhenya could distinctly hear Javier complaining to Patrick about being labelled as a veteran and that he could most certainly keep up with the young uns. Zhenya stood still letting everyone talk around her and the sound wash over her. She was instead just watching Yuzuru. He was standing looking at Tessa and Scott who were walking off towards the residential section of the hotel with an expression she could only describe as being triumphant.


	5. Dido's Lament

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 5 from MYRJ and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter and the rest of the story. Thank you so much to everyone who read, reviewed or commented on this story because I really appreciate it. 'Dido and Aeneas' is one of my favourite operas which I have studied in school and the particular song 'Dido's Lament' is really beautiful and I think the story behind it kinda suits Yuzu and Zhenya.

“You’re late,” Yuzu said his arms folded from where he stood on the ice looking thoroughly too awake for the 6am it was. He had texted her after the announcement the day before positively demanding that Zhenya turn up for a training session that morning.

She had been ready to be there for 6 but had waited in her bedroom for a solid five minutes that she wasted flicking through her instagram feed. “What did you want me to be here for?” she asked still part asleep.

“We need to get a head start on our duet because it needs to be the best one at the tour,” Yuzu frowned. “Why are you not ready to skate.”

“I’ve got everything in my bag,” Zhenya stated shrugging the bag holding a change of clothes and a pair of skates back onto her shoulder. “But we need to decide on a concept and ideally music before we start to work on the dance okay. If we set off blind we will just waste loads of time” 

Yuzu stepped off the ice grabbing his guards that he had left by the side when he was skating and based off of the thin layer of sweat Zhenya could see now that he was closer he had been skating for some time even before she got there, “So what’s your idea.” 

“I’m not really sure maybe a musical theatre or anime inspired number could be fun—Tessa said that our theme was love considering that we’re the only boy-girl pair,” Zhenya said sitting down by the ice rink with a sigh. She had been incredulous when Tessa had told her the theme but had been unable to say anything considering that Scott had been standing there beside Tessa. 

Yuzu scoffed, “Music theatre or anime wouldn’t work—this should be a showpiece not a school kid production.” He walked over looking somewhat uncomfortable towards Zhenya before sitting down about a meter away on the same bench. “You need to think bigger if we want to have the pair routine.”

“What are you thinking then,” Zhenya asked glancing away from Yuzu slightly annoyed. “What’s your genius idea then”

“Opera,” Yuzu said. Zhenya looked at him confused and he elaborated. “Dido and Aeneas by Purcell it’s based of the Aeneid by Virgil.”

“What’s the plot of that,” Zhenya asked unfamiliar with the plot of that particular opera. As a figure skater it was important for her to listen to as much varied music as possible even though it meant she wasn’t able to listen to Exo as much as she’d like often. As a result she probably had one of the weirdest tastes in music that a teenager would have considering that she had playlist that ranged from renaissance choral music to twentieth century opera to concertos and symphony’s to rock and rock and then Mozart, Beethoven and Beetles. 

Yuzu leant forwards untying his laces on his skates and sliding them of his feet, “Well it’s about a boy and a girl who are bound to do great things as part of their birth right—she is a queen in her own right whilst his descendants will found the Roman Empire. However they meet and fall desperately in love when they meet in Carthage after Aeneas is ship wrecked and for a brief time they are happy. But then destiny calls and the gods send down a messenger in Mercury to make Aeneas leave Dido as with Dido he will never be able to achieve his destiny. The abandoned queen kills herself on Aeneas’s sword because she’s in love with him and can’t live without him.” Yuzu’s voice was cold almost emotionless but his eyes were fixed on Zhenya and she could see something in them almost like fire that he was keeping pent-up within himself.

“Death. That’s apt for me,” Zhenya joked trying to lighten the atmosphere. It was a weird story and she wasn’t quite sure about why Yuzu had come up with it though it did suit Yuzu’s eclectic taste. There was something beautiful about the story though and being so in love with someone that you’d kill yourself, which meant that, she couldn’t easily set the idea aside. “Is the music good?”

“Is the music good—it’s a baroque opera written by Purcell in England,” Yuzu said emphatically. Zhenya gave him a blank look. “Just listen to it,” Yuzu said pulling out his phone and his tangled headphones. He offered her an ear bud and with a few sure clicks on his phone she could hear a string quartet start to play.

…

“Hey guys,” Nathan said approaching the pair of them who were wrapped up in the music with their dark head pressed together. Zhenya started in response to Nathan’s voice, which yanked her out of the music, which had almost cast a spell over her. Realising only now how they had migrated towards each other whilst listening to the music until their shoulders and arms were pressed together, she jumped away from him along the bench as though his arm was scorching her and the ear bud went flying out of her eye. 

“What are you doing here,” Yuzu asked looking betrayed as he stared at both Zhenya and Nathan. 

Nathan shrugged, “Zhenya asked me to bring her a hot chocolate after I had eaten breakfast. How’s planning going?” 

Zhenya grabbed her hot chocolate from Nathan and inhaled the aroma from the drink, “Thanks Nathan I needed to get some chocolate into my body to wake myself up properly before my task master made me do some actual skating.” She glanced back at Yuzu who didn’t look amused by her joke and sipped her hot chocolate. It was piping hot and scalded her tongue but it was as good if not better than the one that Nathan had made for her the day before. “I think it’s going well,” she said cautiously not completely sure about what Yuzu would want her to say.

“Have you decided what you guys are doing?” Nathan asked sipping on the other hot chocolate that he had brought with him. “The boys and I are being a boy band at the moment.”

“That sounds like it’d be good,” Zhenya said cautiously. She was waiting for a response or anything from Yuzu but he wasn’t speaking but instead was deadly silent and Zhenya felt she was in the midst of the eye of a hurricane. “We’re doing Di—“ 

“You’ll find out later,” Yuzu finally interjected cutting Zhenya off abruptly and she finally glanced back at him with a look of anger. Why did he think that he could just shut her up like that? “We’re keeping it a secret until we’re ready to perform it and it is still in it’s infancy stages.”

Nathan shrugged, “Sure no worries. You guys are both amazing though so I can guarantee that it will end up being an amazing performance.” He glanced at Zhenya as though to check she was okay and she nodded almost imperceptibly touched by the concern that he was showing her. “I’ll catch you later Zhenya okay.”

“See you then,” Zhenya said drinking her hot chocolate whilst she watched Nathan leave. “What was that Yuzu?” Zhenya accused turning around to face Yuzu who was standing behind her unrepentant. “Why did you cut me off like that it’s really rude?”

“We still haven’t completely decided on what we want to do and it’ll be better if we can build up some anticipation around our performance,” Yuzu stated in his logical manner of speaking. 

Zhenya shook her head, “Even if you’re right which I highly disagree with then you still shouldn’t embarrass me in front of other people.”

“Embarrass you in front of Nathan?” 

“In front of any of my friends—I have a reputation to uphold and I have enough people talking shit about me outside the little bubble that is this tour,” Zhenya explained to the older figure skater. “You’ve been really weird lately you know that you can tell me anything.”

“Nothing’s wrong Zhenya I promise,” Yuzu said but Zhenya wasn’t sure if she really believed him or not. “Can we just focus on training and not on beverages.” 

“Sure,” Zhenya said setting her empty mug down on the bench. “Give me a second to get ready okay. You can put the music on—Dido’s lament was our favourite right.” 

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed sliding his phone back out from his pocket where he had stashed it.

…

By the time Zhenya was ready—all she had to do was change her top, put her skates and tie her hair up—the music was already playing and she could feel the vibrations reaching her in the changing room. Setting down her heavy bag having tucked her trainers and top into it Zhenya left the changing room.   
If she had thought the music was loud when she was in the changing room she was positively deafened by the time she left. Yuzu had set up the music and was skating in the middle of the rink improvising to the music. As she watched he leapt into a stunning triple axel and Zhenya remembered how much his skating enraptured her even when she was mad at him. “Yuzu,” she called over but the music was too loud and he seemed to not be completely present with her and thus he didn’t respond. 

Sighing, Zhenya removed the guards from her skates and stepping out on to the ice she skated over to where Yuzu was skating in the centre of the rink. Her first few steps where cautious as she tested out her foot to see if it was still hurting as it was only a few days ago when she was skating with Nathan but it seemed to be okay so she picked up her speed as she accelerated towards the Japanese skater. 

The music they had chosen was beautiful and she couldn’t deny that Yuzu had good taste even if she’d chosen the precise aria they were going to skate to. The lilt of the soprano singer’s voice supplemented by the strings beneath her was intoxicating even though the tinny speakers and now she was on the ice Zhenya didn’t mind that it was so loud. She could feel herself wanting to move to the music and fit her movements to the melody but she told herself that could wait until she got Yuzu’s attention. “Yuzu,” she called again louder and this time the Japanese skater heard her and in a few fluid strokes he came to Zhenya’s side. 

“You’re ready,” Yuzu said giving her a quick once over and Zhenya squirmed slightly under his gaze. Pulling the remote out of his pocket he restarted the song and they both stood there on the ice listening to it for a few moments trying to think of what movement might work best before he paused the music.

“We could do something like this,” Zhenya said before skating away from Yuzu and demonstrating what she was thinking of careful in how she applied the pressure through her foot. “And then maybe come together one the vocals come in after 20 seconds,” she ventured hoping that it wasn’t a completely crazy idea.

Yuzu nodded, “That could work. Then we could join together after doing a jump and then do a spin together.” Zhenya felt a rush of pleasure that he didn’t think her idea was wholly stupid before realising what he said and she looked down feeling the rush of pleasure leave her. “What’s wrong?” He asked curiously. 

Zhenya sighed. Why was he so damn perceptive when it came to things like this and useless at other things? “I still can’t jump Yuzu. My foot isn’t completely better yet—I’m still of jumping for another few weeks.”

“You can do hydroblade still right?” Yuzu asked trying to work out what exactly Zhenya could do.

Zhenya forced a smile, “Yeah you taught me.” He gave her a look as though to tell her that was not what he was asking about and Zhenya smiled for real this time before adding, “My doctor didn’t say I couldn’t so we might as well give it a go. If we went by what I was explicitly allowed to do I’d have to stand in the middle and have you skate around me.”

“Perfect,” Yuzu said before detailing the rest of his plan that encapsulated the first 30-45 seconds and the first part of the song. It included her rather timid idea, which made Zhenya happy that it wasn’t completely ridiculous and several flourishes and extraneous details that Yuzu had added. The sheer amount of attention that he had clearly put into it wowed Zhenya and she couldn’t help but wonder at how he had been able to come up with something like that so fast. He had been out on the ice slightly before her and heard the music before that day but still Yuzu’s speed and imagination was impressive.

“You’re a bit of a genius,” Zhenya said appreciatively as she skated to her starting pose running through his ideas for the choreography in her head so she would know what she was supposed to be doing and would be able to live up to Yuzu’s expectations for the duet.

Yuzu laughed skating into position, “Only a bit?” He pressed the button on the remote to start the music and soon only the sound of the aria and their skates scratching against the ice could be heard filling the ice rink.


	6. Discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 from Operation MYRJ. I hope everyone will enjoy it and I mucked around with flicking between the two perspectives quickly in a kinda freeze frame type of thing so tell me what you think about it cause I'm not sure if I'd want to repeat it again though it was quite fun to write. The drama will be escalating probably from here but it's still going to be lighthearted

“Zhenya what are you watching,’ Gabby said perching herself on the back of Zhenya’s armchair which rocked terrifyingly but didn’t somehow didn’t actually overbalance taking the pair of them with it. 

Zhenya pulled out her headphones and paused the video that was playing on the screen of her phone, “Dido and Aeneas.”

“The opera—Yuzu’s obsessed with that,” Gabby pointed out. “Wait Please don’t tell me you’ve gone back to stalking Yuzuru again. That was only okay when you were on the junior circuit and didn’t know him in real life.”

“Shush and don’t say that too loud we’re in a public place Gabs,” Zhenya said hushing Gabby glancing around the room furtively but thankfully it was empty. “It wasn’t stalking I just like to stay informed.”

“You pretended to be Japanese and joined his fan groups in Japan on the Internet,” Gabby countered with a deadpan expression. “Anyways why are you watching that opera?”

Zhenya looked down and to the side unwillingly to meet the Canadian woman’s eyes, “He recommended it to me.” She was going to tell Gabby that they were doing it for their duet but Yuzu probably wouldn’t like that considering his attitude the day before.

“Come on Zhenya,” Gabby said frustrated. “The entire point of this plan of ours was to stop you being so lovesick and sad all the time—this obsession isn’t helping you at all okay.”

…

“Yuzu,” Wakaba said marching along the corridor. Yuzu quite terrified looked around to see if he’d be able to hide anywhere but unable to escape fast enough he held his ground. “What are you doing to Zhenya.”

“Wait what that’s what you want to ask about,” Yuzu said confused now. Wakaba looked really angry but Yuzu wasn’t sure what he had exactly done. Sure he might have been slightly cold towards Zhenya recently but they just hadn’t been hanging out as much as they had before.

Wakaba glared at him and unimpressed by Yuzu’s weak defence, “Why did you lie to her about the balcony.”

“What do you mean,” Yuzuru said as he tried to formulate an argument against Wakaba but he just couldn’t completely predict what type of argument the younger skater was trying to make.

“Don’t you think she has a right to know about what happened,” Wakaba asked her voice hard and urgent and Yuzu looked around trying to work out if there was anyone else around who might be overhearing either of them.  
“That’s it Wakaba okay,” Yuzu said his voice angry. Why didn’t she get it? Why did she care? “Nothing happened between us.” 

…

“What do you want me to do then Gabby,” Zhenya asked confused about what the other girl was driving at. “I’m trying to do what’s right okay—I just don’t know what that is anymore.” This entire thing was messing with her head and since she’d been on tour her mental state was a complete mess.

Gabby looked pensive for a few seconds, “I know you Zhenya. You’ll always do the right thing. It’s never the easy thing but you’ll always choose to do what’s right at any particular moment.”

“Thanks,” Zhenya said smiling gratefully at Gabby. Somehow the other girl had known exactly to say to cheer her up. “Does it mean something that Yuzu implied I’m like Dido cause I’ve already done Anna Karenina and I’m not sure how many times I can play suicidal women who are ruined by their menfolk.”

“Do you want it to mean something,” Gabby said cryptically before laughing. “Besides if you’re Dido he’s Aeneas and they were crazy in love with each other.”

Zhenya laughed bitterly at that, “So crazy in love that he left her behind even though he knew she would die.”

… 

“If it was nothing then why are you so defensive Yuzu,” Wakaba said her tone angry and her voice frighteningly quiet. “Why wouldn’t you just tell her about it.”

“Because it means nothing,” Yuzu pointed out. “She wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t been so wasted okay. If she knew what had happened when she was on the balcony with me she’d just be completely humiliated. She’s better off unaware of what happened Waka.”

Wakaba scoffed at the male skater, “How do you know what Zhenya would have wanted to happen. And what are you going to do if Zhenya gets her memory back from that night? You must know that if she realises you’ve been lying to her about something like that she’ll hate you.”

Yuzu glanced down. Wakaba was right about everything that she was saying he was making a stupid mistake and as much as he could be annoyed that Zhenya wasn’t hanging out with him as much. But considering that he was keeping something like this a secret from her she was completely justified in not wanting to be around him. Lifting his head he finally said, “I know.”

…

“Stop overthinking stuff Zhenya,” Gabby said pragmatically. “Does it really matter whatever the connotations of whatever Yuzu said to you. Surely the fact that he thought of you when it came to one of his current favourite pieces of music means more than whatever he’s actually comparing you to,”

“What did I do to deserve being your friend?” Zhenya asked giving Gabby a one-armed hug. 

Gabby laughed and Zhenya could feel the vibrations from that laugh colliding against her chest, “Nothing Zhenya. You don’t need to do anything to have friends just let other people in to see the real Zhenya.”

…

“Well, are you going to bloody well do something about it then,” Wakaba asked her voice sharp attacking and tearing into Yuzu and he flinched away from her words. “Are finally going to act like an adult and face up to Zhenya and tell her the truth.”

Yuzu looked down ashamed and humiliated by all the barrage of words that Wakaba was attacking him with. She didn’t get it did she. It was a mistake of Zhenya’s and he wasn’t going to humiliate her by bringing it up again to her. She wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t been so drunk and Yuzu didn’t want to be faced with her rejection when she found out what had happened on the balcony. “No I’m not going to tell her,” he snapped back yelling at the petit Japanese skater who was standing in front of. He breathed in heavily a couple times and his voice broke as he added his voice completely empty, “I can never tell her.” He wasn’t able to look up to see the Japanese skater leaving as quickly and purposely as she had arrived.

…

“I love you Gabs,” Zhenya said finally pulling away from the other girl. “Now if you don’t mind I want to finish watching this opera to see if I’m able to work out where he’s coming from.” She smiled at the Canadian skater as she left Zhenya alone in the common room without glancing back towards her and her ponytail swaying almost hypnotically. 

…

“We need to do something Gabby,” Wakaba said matter-of-factly to the Canadian skater. After their conversations with both parties, they had mutually decided to meet and talk through what they had learned. They needed to be able to come together and work out what to do next for both Zhenya and Yuzu because based of her talk with Yuzu the situation that was currently going on between them seemed incredibly toxic for the pair of them.

Gabby sighed, “That’s right this entire mess is destroying Zhenya’s self-esteem and I don’t want it to be going on any longer. I don’t even care if she ends up with Yuzuru anymore.” These were big words for Gabby a self-proclaimed shipper of the two and one of their biggest advocates. 

‘Yuzuru doesn’t seem cooperative. I tried to see if I could get him to tell the truth to Zhenya about that night on the balcony but he refused point blank. There’s something going on with him which I can’t put my finger on,” Wakaba mused thinking back to her conversation with the Japanese skater but all she could think of was his desperate face at the end before she’d left him.

“We need to sort this out—this silly plan is clearly not working out fast enough,” Gabby said frustrated. It had been a good idea to make Yuzu jealous but as far as she could see all it did was cause more trouble and no resolutions. It was making Zhenya feel bad because she felt as though she was using Nathan to further her aims without him knowing and Yuzu was still blind and just looked as though he had was constipated whenever he saw Zhenya being happy with anyone.

Wakaba laughed briefly, “Do you think we ought to go rogue—to help them of course.” If they waited for Zhenya or Yuzu to do their thing the tour would be over before anything actually happened and Wakaba would be back in Japan when all the beef was going down in TCC and she wanted to be able to watch some of the drama that could be guaranteed to ensue.

“To help them,” Gabby agreed. This entire thing was just so annoying she wanted to tie the pair of them together and leave them in a life or death situation to make them tell the truth but apparently, that wouldn’t be tactful enough and may or may not be slightly illegal. “The problem is what can we do we can’t throw those two together any more than we already are. And Zhenya’s already doing a good job of making Yuzu jealous he’s just an uptight little shit who doesn’t want to see the truth.”

“That’s a little harsh,” Wakaba said trying to calm Gabby down. The other girl was getting worked up and protective over Zhenya and they had to keep this as business-like possible if they wanted to operate at maximum effectiveness. “But you are right we need to find something that matters to the pair of them.”

“Well that’s easy,” Gabby said tucking her hands into her pockets before looking up again at the Japanese skater. “It’s their duet.”


	7. Coco Pops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that chapter 7 is up so late but I promised daily updates and it's an hour away from midnight where I live so technically it is still on time. I hope this chapter is okay because the reason it is so late was because, I wasn't really happy with it. It also happens to be my longest chapter at around about 3,000 words and have the most from Yuzu's point of view so I hope that makes up for it. Thanks again to everyone who leaves kudos and reviews you have no idea how much I appreciate it

“Zhenya there you are,” Yuzu asked spotting the dark haired girl who he was searching for at the end of the corridor. He ran to catch up with her stopping only a few meters away from the teenage girl. 

She looked at him confused, “Did I miss a training or something. I’m so sorry I didn’t realise.”

“It’s nothing like that,” Yuzu said shaking his head emphatically. “I was just wondering if you wanted to talk. It feels like we haven’t talked for ages.” He was going to do it if he could. He’d stayed up all night wrestling with the question of what to do but he had finally decided that he had to tell Zhenya. Otherwise, how could he call her his friend?

Zhenya tilted her head and he was unable to read her face that was so expressive on the ice, “Sure I’m about to have breakfast. You can join me if you want but you have to actually eat with me and not me on my unhealthy breakfasts.”

Yuzu smiled at her light-hearted response and something lifted inside him at the idea of having breakfast with Zhenya, “That won’t be a problem. I haven’t eaten today.” He added feeling compelled to talk and fill the silence before he bit his tongue. It wasn’t that Zhenya scared him but whilst he was talking he was in control of the conversation and wasn’t put onto the back seat.

“That’s good,” Zhenya said smiling. “I feel like we haven’t had any time to talk for ages.”

That was an understatement but Yuzu didn’t get why Zhenya was saying that. She was always rushing around with her friends dancing from conversation to conversation—this was one of the first times he had seen her alone in the last week. He forced down his disagreements with her statement and instead smiled broadly. “Never you’re one of the bear squad. We’ve just both been busy.”

“What have you been up to though? I feel like I haven’t seen you anywhere except the ice rink.” Zhenya pushed. She was right—he hadn’t been anywhere that she would be recently. Yuzu didn’t like to be second in anything not in the results and certainly not to his friends.

Yuzu looked away from Zhenya unable to meet her eyes and he kept on walking faster. He wouldn’t be able to tell Zhenya what he needed to tell her until they were sitting down at the table. That would at least make it harder for her to runaway from him. “Not much,” he deflected. “Mostly just sleeping and skating Javier’s always on my back about it.”

“Sleeping and skating sounds good,” Zhenya agreed. “But I can’t do either of those properly so I guess that I’ll just have to leave it.”

Yuzu looked at her confused. He knew that she had this thing in her head that her injury in her foot somehow diminished her abilities as a skater but the second part of it he didn’t understand, “You can’t sleep?”  
Zhenya brushed her hair out of her face and he only now noticed the large bags under her eyes, “I’ve been having nightmares on and off since February.”

“Since Pyeongchang?” Yuzu questioned confused by this situation. He couldn’t help but want to know what was wrong with Zhenya and to help her. It angered him in a way he couldn’t understand to know that she hadn’t told him before, “Have you told anyone about this?”

“Only Alina and that was because I’ve woken her up to many times,” Zhenya said in an offhand manner. “Nathan keeps on asking why I’m yawning but I didn’t want to tell him.”

Yuzu felt a rush of pleasure fill him that he couldn’t name at learning that Zhenya had taken him into her confidence, “I promise I won’t tell anyone Evgenia.” Something about the solemnity of the situation prompted him to use her full name and they both started laughing as soon as he had stopped talking. 

“I’d missed this,” Zhenya said pushing open the door to the canteen. “We haven’t talked like this in forever.”

“Same,” Yuzu agreed and he couldn’t help but hope that next season with her training with him by his side they would be able to maintain their close friendly relationship. “So what do you recommend for an unhealthy breakfast?” 

“These are pretty decent,” Zhenya said filling a bowl with coco pops for Yuzu and then one for herself. Pouring cold milk into both of them she passed Yuzu a bowl. 

‘Thanks,” he said unimpressed with the fare. Normally opted for the more healthy porridge that was offered with perhaps some fresh fruit but if he was going to tell Zhenya about the night on the balcony he’d better win as many points so he could be in her good books. He passed her a spoon before heading to one of the booths.

Zhenya sat down a couple seconds after him pushing her phone back into her jumper pocket with a struggle, “What did you want to grab me for? You can tell me anything you know—we’re friends.”

She was right they were friends which meant he had to what was right and best for her even if it would be difficult for him. “Well it’s just that we’re friends and as a result, I feel as though I owe it to you to tell you something--,” Yuzu began before Zhenya’s phone started ringing. 

“I’m so sorry,” Zhenya said pulling her phone out and declining the call. She nodded at him as though to prompt him to continue.

Yuzu bit his tongue trying to find the right word as he couldn’t help but feel the moment had been lost. “It’s just that--,” 

Zhenya’s phone started ringing merrily again and Yuzu wasn’t sure if he was grateful or not for it distracting Zhenya. “It’s Nathan again,” Zhenya said looking at the phone “Is it okay if I pick up just because he wouldn’t be calling me again if it wasn’t important.”

“Sure,” Yuzu said tightly. He shovelled down coco pops trying to understand why Zhenya liked them so much as he watched the dark-haired girl opposite stand up and walk a dozen or so paces away so presumably he wouldn’t be able to overhear what she was saying.

He could still see her smiling and laughing as she talked to Chen though Yuzu selfishly thought that she had been more animated and had had more fun when she had been with him. He watched her twirl a strand of her hair in her fingers and felt some sort of hotness almost like rage rise in his chest and he wanted to break the phone that she clutched next to her ear. He didn’t though and instead, his grip merely grew tighter around the spoon until he could almost see the whites of the bone through his translucent skin and simply continued to eat the chocolate cereal. 

Zhenya hung up the phone and returned quickly with light steps to their booth, “I’m so sorry about that Nathan was just checking about whether I was at breakfast already and I invited him to join us if that’s okay.” She paused glancing at Yuzu and he made an attempt to conceal the feeling that he could feel building up inside him, “Anyways what were you going to tell me?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Yuzu said quickly deflecting her question. 

Zhenya frowned before asking probingly and looking slightly confused, “And you’re okay with Nathan joining us?”

Yuzu smiled as broad and as earnestly as he could muster, “Totally.”

…

 

He was totally not okay with it he decided. The conversation between him and Zhenya had been awkward for the next five to ten minutes until Nathan arrived with a massive plate filled with bacon, eggs sausages and toast. Him having arrived the conversation basically just became him and Zhenya trading referencing to pop culture that Yuzu didn’t understand making him feel stupid. And he wasn’t stupid.

He instead stayed mostly silent letting Zhenya and Nathan do the majority of the talking only venturing out with the occasional chime in agreement. However, it was only when he realised that Zhenya had having finished her coco pops discarded the bowl and was now nibbling on Nathan’s bacon that Yuzu started to get annoyed. Didn’t she understand that that was a health hazard and she was risking receiving Chen’s unhealthy American germs? 

He opted to shoot her a pointed look and was rewarded with Zhenya withdrawing her hand from the plate as though it was burning hot. Inside he felt triumphant but he instead forced a considerate smile when Chen asked Zhenya if she was okay. 

Finishing his coco pops which had by now lost their flavour and tasted like straw in his mouth Yuzu spoke up for the first time since Chen had arrived, “I’m going to go now—I might see if I can get a skate in before group practice.”

“I thought you booked the ice for the morning slot before the group session,” Zhenya said turning to where Nathan was sitting beside her

Nathan glanced at Yuzu for the first time, “Yeah I reserved it starting in like five minutes—that’s why I’m grabbing an early breakfast. Sorry man you can grab it after me if you’d like they’ll still be sometime before practice for everyone else starts. “

Yuzu smiled as cordially as he could muster though he could see in the mirror opposite from where he was sitting that in truth it resembled a grimace more than it did a smile. “In that case, I’ll just see if I can catch Javier around.” He stood up and left the room not letting himself look back.

…

“You okay there?” Nathan asked Zhenya snapping herself out of watching Yuzu leave.

Zhenya bit her lip slightly conflicted about how much she ought to tell him, “I think he wanted to talk to me about something but I’m not sure what.” He had seemingly wanted to tell her something but had backed out of it when Nathan had called her earlier that day. 

Nathan frowned, “Did I get in the way—If so I’m sorry.”

“I don’t matter. If he wouldn’t tell me once he knew that you were coming I’m not sure if he would have told me anyway,” Zhenya said sighing. “Can I come with you when you go to the rink now cause I need some air.” 

“Sure. I’m done anyway so we can get a start on it,” Nathan said standing up before shuffling out of the small booth and waiting for Zhenya to follow him. “If you could take a look at my new exhibition that’d be great.” 

“Totally,” Zhenya agreed following Nathan out of the canteen willingly. She needed to get her mind off of whatever was going on with Yuzu and there was nothing better than the ice to help her with that. Helping Nathan with his programs would also make her feel useful as often at the moment as she was unable to jump. “I’m sure it will be really good. What music are you using?”

“You’ll see when I show you,” Nathan said elbowing the Zhenya in the ribs lightly.  
She laughed at the contact before retaliating in kind, “Stop it. Besides you’re just going to have to tell me later when you play it on the speakers.”

“When is the key work in that question as you can hear it but I want you to be able to take in everything for the first time when I show it to you,” Nathan said explaining charmingly. 

Zhenya nodded in agreement at least she only had to wait for a few minutes before she’d be able to listen the music. “Any spoilers,” she joked as they entered the rooms around the rink. It was freezing cold inside, as they were the first people on the rink that day.

“No,” Nathan laughed. “I said that I wasn’t going to tell you. Just wait 10 minutes Zhenya. I need to get my skates on and then you can see.”

Zhenya pouted before smiling at Nathan, “Left skate first.”

“Always,” Nathan said laughing sitting himself down on the bench and starting to pull his skates on one after the other. “Are you doing an individual exhibition?”

“I’m not really sure right now. My duet with Yuzu is taking up all of my time because he’s insistent on us winning the unofficial competition for the best small group,” Zhenya explained thinking through the next few weeks. “Besides my current exhibition doesn’t work well without the jumps and I haven’t been able to put together a new one.” She hadn’t really been able to put enough thought into the dilemma of whether to do an ex or not as whilst she did want to do one. Besides, when it came to her exhibitions she liked to have a story to say especially considering she didn’t have that much control over her competition program. 

“Yuzu sounds intense. The boys and I are just going to try and have fun and not break any records in the pairs discipline,” Nathan joked before standing up his skates ready at last.

Zhenya laughed at his comment, “He’s not that intense he’s a sweetie normally. He just doesn’t like to be second best at anything even when it comes to an exhibition show program as he compares himself to everyone else.”

“You seem to know him quite well,” Nathan said perceptively as he busied around the speakers setting up his phone to play the music. 

Zhenya smiled at this point of Nathan’s because regardless of her insecurity when it came to facing Yuzu it couldn’t be denied that out of the people on the international figure skating circuit she was one of his closest friends. “Thanks,” She said after a few seconds. “You going to actually skate.”

“Jeesh Zhenya I’m going to start,” Nathan said mock-angrily at Zhenya who couldn’t help but giggle at his tone. He passed the small remote to Zhenya before stepping onto the ice. He gestured at her to queue the music and she obliged letting the thin reedy sounds of the flutes backed up by the warmth of the string start to fill the room. 

The actual skating was beautiful and Zhenya couldn’t help but wish that his programs had the same level of complexity in the transitions and movements when he was doing his monstrous six quad competitions routines. The few jumps he did were landed cleanly on the accents in the music with some of the best landings she had seen him do. It was just the music that confused her. She felt as though she recognised it from somewhere and it fitted the program well with enough flourishes for him to be able to land his quads and rousing enough to make an ex from. By the time Nathan finished his performance sinking into a bow on the ice with the final crescendo in the music, Zhenya was thoroughly hooked into what he was performing. 

He skated over to her slightly out of breath with his hair slicked at the front with sweat. “So was the music worth it.”

“It was nice,” Zhenya agreed. It had been indeed it was the type of music she might even recommend using for a competition program as it had visible spots for jumps built into it. “But was I supposed to recognise it.”

“Wait you didn’t get the music—then you won’t have understood the point of the program. “ Nathan said looking shocked. “Besides how do you not recognise the music from the lord of the rings.”

“Lord of the what,” Zhenya repeated back confused at Nathan’s point. “And I got the story I think—it’s of a young boy who grows up and into the destiny that he was born into and his journey from nobody into someone great.” She loved trying to create an analysis out of programs and teasing implications out of the slightest most intricate movement.

“Hole in one,” Nathan said looking impressed at Zhenya’s deduction skills and she couldn’t help but feel happy. “But you don’t know what lord of the ring’s are?”

“Nope,” Zhenya said shrugging.

Nathan looked pensive for a second, “Aragon, Frodo, Gandalf, Sauron, the one ring to rule them all.”

“Are you going crazy,” Zhenya asked squinting at the boy who was saying various words, which didn’t seem to make grammatical or logical sense.

“Are you free tomorrow for nine hours,” Nathan asked completely seriously. 

Zhenya was puzzled by this, “I think I might have a training with Yuzu though I can get out of it and why?”

Nathan bit his lip, “Well do that. I mean skip the training and we need at least nine hours if you want to watch the three original movies and the extended editions in one day.”

“Wait what,” Zhenya asked almost laughing in confusion. “Why are we watching nine hours of movies.”

“Because they are iconic and I can’t believe you’ve never seen them,” Nathan said as though it was obvious and Zhenya wanted to hit him on the head with something hard. “Text Yuzu now.”

“Sure,” Zhenya said still laughing at Nathan’s earnestness as she typed her text into her phone. Is it okay if we reschedule tomorrow’s session to the evening because something’s come up? It was a thoroughly lame message but at this point, she didn’t care about how Yuzu might react as his behaviour in the last week seemed to sway between hating her and being her friend

She might have cared more though if her hearing had been sharp enough to register a phone receiving a text message in the gallery above which she couldn’t see and if she had been able to see its owners face scowl in anger. As it were both she and Nathan jumped upon hearing the door above them slam shut with a vengeance


	8. The last stand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter and I'm sorry that it is uber late again but I'm struggling to get my updates up earlier in the day and again it is technically posted on the same day for me due to my time zone. I hope this is okay and I'm not 100% sure about this chapter but I felt as though people who aren't as obsessed with lord of the rings as I am will not enjoy it. If you find the movie stuff boring do just skip to the end of the chapter to the Yuzhenya scene there. Thanks as always to all my reviews and to everyone who has left kudos since my last chapter.

“Zhenya wake up,” Alina aid and Zhenya rolled over trying avoid the voice of her team mate. “Nathan’s here,”

Why was Nathan here? She wondered her mind still slow from sleep not able to work out what was going on. Rubbing her hands against her eyes to chase the sleep away she blinked her eyes open wincing at the harsh light. “Why’s Nathan here?” she asked the younger girl confused.

“I don’t know—he’s your friend, “Alina responded pointedly but Zhenya wasn’t able to put together an explanation for this nor did she have the energy to ask. “He said something about getting an early start on the fellowship. I thought you were supposed to train with Yuzu this morning.”

“I was,” Zhenya agreed trying to remember. “I said I’d watch the movies with him he said they were of critical importance.”

“Movies?” Alina asked confused. 

Zhenya sat up in her bed and pushed her covers down and she started to properly wake up, “Yeah about some ring. I’m not really sure? You can come to.”

“How long is the movie going to be cause it’s kinda early to be watching one?” Alina questioned in her soft tone. Like usual she was dressed and ready before Zhenya and was busying herself by tidying up the room

Zhenya squinted trying to think about Alina’s question and decide what to wear, “I think nine hours?” she said at last.

“Nine hours?” Alina questioned looking surprised and mildly reproachful.

“Zhenya hurry up,” Nathan called from behind the door and Zhenya started only now realising for real that he was already there and waiting for her. “If we don’t start now we’ll be interrupted by the group rehearsal in the afternoon.”

Zhenya grabbed a t-shirt and leggings and quickly shimmied them on before grabbing a large oversized jumper, which she pulled on top, “You coming Alinka? It’s not like you can tidy this room many more times."

“Sure,” Alina agreed before sliding on a pair of soft shoes that she could walk around the hotel in.

Zhenya swung the door open to reveal Nathan leaning on the wall opposite looking fed up. “You took your time,” He said as she emerged from her room. 

“I woke up like five minutes ago,” Zhenya said grumbling. “Is it okay if Alina comes to?”

“Is she also uninitiated?” Nathan questioned as Zhenya stepped out of the doorway allowing Alina to emerge.

Zhenya laughed, “You make it sound like some form of cult and no she hasn’t watched it before.” 

“Well in that case I extend my apologies to you Alina that I didn’t initially invite you but I just presumed that you would be more cultured than this heathen,” Nathan said smiling at Alina and Zhenya felt proud of him for putting the slightly jittery at times teenage girl at ease. 

Alina smiled brightly, “No worries I’m just glad to be able to watch it.”

The walk to the lounge room passed quickly and Zhenya tuned out of the conversation as Nathan was doing a good job of coaxing the shy girl out of her shell. She wasn’t sure what to do about Yuzu. He’d be mad if he saw why she hadn’t been at the rehearsal but it’s not as though he’d been coming through the lounge room a lot frequently so he probably wouldn’t see her. Then again for the stupid plan that she was regretting so much at the moment it would probably be good if he did see her. “Zhenya,” Nathan said jolting her back into reality. “Are you there?"

“Yeah sure. What’s happened?” Zhenya questioned wondering what she had missed and if she had made her preoccupations to obvious. 

“Nothing but you might want to sit down,” Nathan said.

Zhenya glanced around her only now realising that they had arrived and shook her head brusquely. She was far too distracted for al this. “Sure,” she agreed settling herself down on the small couch and Nathan quickly sat down beside her.Alina, however, as there wasn’t much room on the sofa pulled over a large armchair that she curled herself up in and Zhenya couldn’t help but think that Alina resembled her cat somewhat in that position. 

Nathan grabbing the remote linked the TV up to his phone to play the movie, “Do you guys want Russian subtitles.”“Yes please,” Alina said—her English wasn’t as good as Zhenya’s and whilst it was passable Zhenya wasn’t surprised that the younger girl wanted to have the additional prompts.

Everything set up Nathan finally leant back on the sofa as he struggled to make himself comfortable and Zhenya heard the same pretty music as before filling the room as the opening credits played.

...

The time flew past and before she knew it the time was nine in the morning and Nathan was changing the movies over to the second one. “Who is your favourite character so far? He asked the pair of them.

“I like Boromir I think,” Zhenya said after a few seconds of quiet reflection. His death scene at the end had had her in tears and whilst Nathan had teased her about it she didn’t think he understood. There was something so powerful in a way that he had faced his death even knowing that he had failed and never backed down but instead thought for what he thought was right throughout. “Your exhibition is about Aragon though and his arc from the strider to king.”

“Yeah I was always a sucker for the straggly good doer that he is who is driven by his destiny to become king,” Nathan said smiling. “How about you Alina?”

Alina looked pensive for a second before breaking out into a smile, “I liked Arwen I think. But the hobbits remind me of Sasha, Nastya, Anya and Alena.” Zhenya laughed imagining the four younger girls at her old rink tramping around Middle Earth in search of a ring.

“Interesting,” Nathan said queuing up the next one. “Tell me when you guys want food cause I have some microwavable popcorn that we can eat.” 

...

Zhenya was gripped throughout the second movie. If she had thought the first one was good the second one was even better with the rousing music and beautiful scenery that Nathan told her was shot in New Zealand.

However, it was when they were introduced to Eowyn that Zhenya final felt a connection to one of the characters. Whilst she had thought Boromir and his death were inspiring whilst the hobbits were amusing and Legolas was amazingly light on her feet she couldn’t help but empathise with Eowyn’s plight. 

The character reminded Zhenya of herself in so many ways with her unwillingness to remain in the boxes that were set out for her and desire to fight and prove herself to everyone who doubted her whilst always remembering her duty and responsibilities as a daughter of the royal line. And it was when she said what she feared most—‘a cage’ Zhenya finally felt as though someone understood why she had left Eteri even if it was from a movie made over a decade before. Because that’s what it had been becoming a cage in which Zhenya was trapped unable to move forward or back and simply reduced to waiting to be eclipsed by the young stars that were coming up the ranks. 

Around her she could hear and feel the sofa moving when Nathan got up to make popcorn and she ate a few pieces whilst she was watching engrossed in the action on the screen and as the battle occurred and she watched as the brave and beautiful elves upon the battlements died Zhenya found herself again fighting back tears.“Are you crying again,” Nathan whispered towards her as they watched the captain of the elves Haldir die.

Zhenya wiped her slightly misty eyes with the back of her hand brusquely. “Perhaps. It’s just such a waste—there’s not point in their deaths.”

“They’re dying for something they believe in,” Nathan said looking pensive and he wasn’t teasing her anymore.

Zhenya shrugged shifting in her seat, “I know.” That’s what made it all the sadder though in Zhenya's opinion.

By the time they reached the last and final movie in the trilogy Zhenya and Alina were both flagging it was almost midday and whilst they weren’t hungry the movies were surprisingly emotionally draining to watch in one go as whilst there were the few happy light-hearted moments the overall theme of the second movie had been overwhelmingly somber. But as the opening credits started again they rallied up and eating more popcorn to sustain themselves sat back down to watch.

...  
It was around half way through that Alina slipped out to go the loo and Zhenya started as the lights for the room were turned on sending them crashing out of the battle scene that was about to begin and Théoden of the Rohan’s rousing battle speech that consisted of one word. She glanced backwards to see Yuzu standing at the door looking unimpressed. “Can I talk to Zhenya?” He asked his voice surprisingly formal and different in comparison to the accents of the actors that Zhenya had been immersed in for over 6 hours

.Zhenya looked back at Nathan and the scene on the screen mournfully as she expected this to be one of the battles that might actually be won and her favourite Eowyn was even riding out into battle alongside the men albeit in the disguise. “Sure,” she said standing up and turning to follow Yuzu out of the room.

“Do you want me to pause it,” Nathan asked. “This is a really good bit.”

Zhenya smiled softly, “Don’t worry I’ll be back soon.” She followed Yuzu out of the room into the corridor confused and slightly, ‘What is it?”

“This is why you couldn’t make training this morning. You’re watching a movie,” Yuzu said almost questioningly.

Part of Zhenya shrunk inside her but the other part buoyed up by the music that she could hear escaping from the open door and she said as fearlessly as she could, “So what.”

Yuzu looked incredulous and angry but Zhenya kept her courage up inspired by the movies she had been watching and stared him straight back in the eye. “Do you not care about our duet,” he accused her.

“Of course I do but Nathan just wanted to do something sweet for me as he knew I’d never watched the movie and he thought I’d enjoy it. And he was right I loved the movies.” Zhenya bit back at him unwilling to let this go without a fight whilst still attempting to be reasonable.“Besides I was going to train this evening after the rehearsal what’s the problem."

“Why are you hanging out with that guy anyway? I thought we were friends,” Yuzu said and she could see some hurt in his eyes and she almost felt sorry for him. 

Almost was the key word in that sentence and Zhenya felt just as enraged at his presumption that she could only be his friend, “I have other friends than you Yuzu you must understand that.”

“You were the one saying just yesterday how we don’t hang out enough anymore and yet you are the one blowing off on our rehearsal. And I don’t have a problem with you having friends but he’s been a bad influence on you this entire tour.” Yuzu said and Zhenya was confused was this what this was all about. She had been meant to make Yuzu jealous but at the moment he seemed almost as though he would skip the passionate lover step and go straight to murderous. 

“he’s also a good sweet guy who doesn’t ask anything from me and does what I need for me and not what he needs for himself and is there to support me,” Zhenya said remembering all of Nathan’s actions in the last few weeks. “And why can’t I do both be friends with you and hang out with Nathan?”

Yuzu stared back at her incredulous and Zhenya could see the heat in his eyes and hear both of their breaths, which were raggedy over the music. Nathan had clearly turned the volume up inside to not overhear them yelling at each other but as a result Zhenya could just hear the drums pulsing in her head driving her forwards. “Why do you even care who I’m friends with,” Zhenya asked finally confused and frustrated trying to get a concrete answer out of the Japanese skater as this indecision and confusion of his was slowly killing her. 

“Because I’m the one who convinced Brian to take you when you wanted to change coach and convinced him you were a hard worker who cared about skating more than anyone else. But now all you do is sit around watching movies and hanging out with your friends. Where’s that drive you used to have to be the best gone. Hell I’m not surprised Zagitova beat you at the Olympics,” His voice rose as the music grew louder in the background building up to the climax but by his last phrase the music had completely dropped out leaving his voice garishly loud. 

Zhenya held back tears with all the force she could muster thankful that she had cried so many in the movie. “I’m grateful and thankful for your opinion but I must leave,” she said her words stilted but she couldn’t translate them properly from Russian to English in her head. 

She walked away back straight and she could hear Yuzuru calling after her motionless in the corridor. As soon as she rounded the corridor and he was no longer watching her she ran as far away as she could as fast as she could.


	9. Forget my fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter but I do really like it and it's probably one of my favourite chapter I've written. Thanks for all the reviews I got for the last chapter which is the most any chapter of this story has gotten and I'm glad that everyone is enjoying this story even if there is a lot of angst. Please tell me if there are any mistakes or logic jumps in this chapter as I wrote this whilst concussed after a fall on my bike which is why I ended up cutting this chapter so I am not surprised if there are any problems. Thanks again to everyone who has read this this, left kudos or reviewed and enjoy.

“Man can you get in here,” Nathan said his voice frighteningly low. The movie had been turned off and he had appeared out of nowhere in the doorway. 

Yuzu glanced to the side considering whether he should make an escape but he just felt tired and looking at the angry expression on Nathan’s face he just acquiesced to his demands. “What do you want?”

“What did you say to Zhenya?” he asked after a few moments. They both knew that Nathan had heard every single word that Yuzu had cast at Zhenya and Yuzu resented Nathan for making him repeat what he had said especially considering that as Yuzu thought back through what he had said.

Yuzu looked down unwilling to make eye contact with the American, “I was just telling her how I felt.” He was unwilling to get into the details of what he had said as he was already reliving the conversation enough in his mind. 

“So for you to tell her how you feel you must rip her apart. Those things don’t need to involve each other.” Nathan said not letting Yuzu get away with leaving the details out and oversimplifying everything. 

“Can you just stop okay—I did what I thought was right at that second.” Yuzu said retreating to the back foot away from Nathan. His head was aching and he could see Zhenya behind his eyes and her words ringing in his ears despite her absence.

“That’s bull okay—Zhenya does whatever is right even when it hurts her so much. She was the one who helped pick everyone up after the Olympics even when she was heartbroken. She didn’t need to do that but she did to help other people because that was what was right for her,” Nathan retorted. “Doing what’s right means that you can stand behind your actions even if in hindsight they are the wrong ones. Can you say that?”

Yuzu glanced up, at last, to meet Nathan’s eyes, “No I can’t.” He hadn’t been doing what was right as much as he might have wanted to tell himself that and instead had just been doing what was easiest for him.

“Well, you need to think about your actions cause Zhenya never seems to be as unhappy as when she has spent time with you. I don’t know what’s gotten into you recently but I don’t get how you are the same guy who Zhenya says is one of her best friends and her inspiration. “ Nathan said his eyes mad as he stared the older skater down. “Every time I’ve seen her in the last week she brings you up and has to ask me about what she should do next because she can’t understand your action. Hell, I’m a guy and I don’t get where you’re coming from.”

Nathan broke off unable to speak anymore and Yuzu was recoiling into himself trying to build up walls and let Nathan’s words fall on death ears but he couldn’t avoid his accusations. “Zhenya’s an amazing person with a massive heart and yet you keep on hurting her and you don’t even seem to realise the consequences of what you’re doing,” Nathan said finally and if Yuzu wasn’t mistaken the American was misty eyed.

Yuzu laughed bitterly, “Believe me I’ve damn well realised the consequences now.” He hadn’t realised everything that had gone wrong between him and Zhenya until he’d heard everything that Nathan was saying and it was all true.

“It’s not too late for you two to make up,” Nathan said seeming to pick up on Yuzu’s despondent attitude. “She cares about you more than you might think even if I think it is stupid of her. But you’ve got to be her friend and nothing more—she needs your support at the moment. There’s no point trying to make amends if you don’t do that. 

Yuzu looked Nathan in the eye and whilst he could still see the anger in them from earlier there was also compassion and caring and he found himself respecting the teenager more for the strength of his character than for his undeniable prowess on ice. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Nathan said dismissively. “You are going to need all that sucking up for Zhenya.”

…

It wasn’t until after the group rehearsal that Zhenya finally emerged from her shared room with Alina. She had managed to maintain her composure enough to tell the younger girl that she wasn’t going to be at the group session that afternoon because her foot was hurting. Ironically enough her foot was the only part of her that wasn’t aching with pain and that annoyed Zhenya in a way that she couldn’t put into words. 

Once she was in her room though she’d let all her tears fall until her pillow was damp and she could hear people banging on her door but she had bolted and one by one they left and the only noise she could hear was the sound of her breathing. That was why she had chosen to leave when she did. If she gave them time after the end of the rehearsal everyone would converge on her room but by pre-empting it she would be able to make a clean escape.

The corridors where empty as she’d expected and she could feel her phone in her pocket buzzing as messages where sent from the others having finished the session. There was only person she had no idea if he was sending messages and that was Yuzu she had blocked him as soon as she had made it into her room. Part of her the silly insecure girl she was wanted to know if he had reached out but her pride kept her from unblocking the number. 

She ducked behind a corner feeling her heartbeat race as she heard the group returning to the accommodation part of their hotel after their skate. They were talking loudly and Zhenya was able to catch her name in Nathan’s distinctive American accent before they were gone. She wanted to know what they were saying and what stories were going round but instead she kept on going to her goal—the ice rink with her phone like a block of lead in her pocket. 

Zhenya breathed out a heavy sigh of relief when she entered the ice rink and it was empty. She had expected it to be it had been booked for her and Yuzu’s duet together and that seemed to not be happening at this rate but part of her was terrified at the possibility of seeing him on the ice there. 

She removed her skates from her bag and slipped them on removing the guards and tying the laces carefully one after the other. They were biting tight into her ankles but Zhenya didn’t care and she stepped onto the ice quickly.

The first thing she noticed was the cold. The ice rink was several degrees colder than before and she felt it shake her out of her stupor. Skating over to the speakers she pressed the button to make it play music. She started upon recognising the tune that was coming in with the string. It was their duet music. In hindsight, this would probably have made sense, as they were the next to practice and it had been queued up before everything had gone down. She was going to change it but the song was beautiful and she found herself instead of changing the song skating into her starting positions from when she and Yuzu had started to choreograph the dance together. 

The dance had originally been choreographed as a duet but they hadn’t gotten around to adding the partner work into it so Zhenya was able to skate to it by herself. She could feel the tears falling down her cheeks as she followed through the movements that they had chosen together adding flourishes to the accents in the music. She danced through the 45-second mark, which was as far as they had gotten and made it up each movement sliding in effortlessly.

As the song continued her movements intensified to max the crescendo in the instruments and the soaring vocals from the soprano that the speaker was belting out. Skating from element to element she waited until she could hear the climax coming and with one last transition, she threw herself into the air for triple loop. 

But she couldn’t land it and instead went flying across the rink until she lay in a heap sobbing on the ice and in the music she could hear Dido go silent as the Queen of Carthage died. She lay there in an insensible heap for longer than she could tell until her tears seemed to freeze on her cheeks and she could hear a dull clapping sound behind her.

She pushed herself upwards onto her feet to see Yuzu standing on dry land by the rink. “What do you want?” she asked imperiously skating over to where he stood.

“To talk to you,” Yuzu said. He appeared to be upset but Zhenya didn’t care.

“You’ve said all you need to say Hanyu,” she responded bitterly. “You made yourself perfectly clear.”

Something seemed to shatter within his eyes but a tear didn’t fall, “Zhenya please forgive me I’ll do anything.”

“Then you don’t need to worry,” Zhenya said her voice as cold as the frozen tears on her cheek and the ice beneath her. “I’ve already forgiven you if appeasing your conscience is what you care about but there’s no way in hell I’m going to trust you ever again.” She turned to skate away back onto the rink but had only taken two steps before turning back. 

His face lit up to see her seemingly turn around but all Zhenya did was ask him to leave.


	10. Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First I’m so sorry that there was no update yesterday but I got majorly caught up as it was my least day of exams so I went out afterwards. I am on holiday now so updates should come more regularly but I’m struggling at the moment to get my characters to where I know that I want them to be so I’m getting slightly stuck. I know that Kaetlyn’s name is consistently spelt wrong and I’m planning to go back to fix it but I typed it on my phone so autocorrect.

“Zhenya smile,” Wakaba prompted and Zhenya acquiesced bitterly forcing a grin onto her face. She’d been roped into going out with Gabby, Kaetlyn and Wakaba to pick out costumes for their quartet. She’d known a however that it was just a conveniently timed excuse designed to get Zhenya out of the hotel and into the city so that they could get what they wanted out of her. 

The two boys had kept it incredibly close to their chest and refused to give out the details and all they knew about Zhenya’s response was from Alina her roommate. The 15 year old had just held the older girl close for hours once Zhenya had returned to her room not needing to ask any question. 

“What’s your performance about anyways?” Zhenya questioned shifting the focus off herself adeptly. 

Gabby looked at her sharply and Zhenya could tell that she knew what she was trying to do but tossing her hair behind on one side she answered, “It’s ‘With a little help from my friends’ –we’re like the female Beetles cause there’s four of us.”

“Sgt Pepper I like that,” Zhenya agreed playing through the song in her head. “So what were you thinking plot wise?”

“We are not sure but it will orientate around us providing support to each other that will allow us to do what we didn’t think we could.” Kaetlyn answered and Zhenya liked the concept. It worked will with the simplicity of the song and would convey well in a large busy show. 

“Where is Tessa?” Wakaba asked as though she had only just realised that the older Canadian skater wasn’t there.

Kaetlyn shrugged, “She said that she had to stay at home and recommended that we bring Zhenya along to fill her spot. I think her and Scott are having one of their arguments again.” 

“What’s happened?” Zhenya asked. The pair of them were the strongest power couple in the figure skating world on ice and off it despite not and Zhenya couldn’t imagine the two not playing their parts as the parents of the group. 

“Scott probably got back together with his girlfriend. The pair of them have an one and off relationship and whenever they get back together Tessa and Scott argue. It’ll blow over in a few days,” Kaetlyn explained breezily. “I’ll check on her once we get home to make sure everything is cool once we get back.”

“Sure,” Zhenya responded unsure of what else she ought say. 

They walked along in companionable silence for a few minutes until Wakaba pointed out that they had reached the mall. 

…

Inside the mall itself it was like another world to that outside with architectural features in the roof and slabs of marble that covered the floor. She could see the large enticing shop windows that opened up into the smaller individual stores, which were full of clothes 

Normally their costumes would be handmade and designed by professionals but for this task so to speak they had to come up with costumes themselves which meant that they would have to by the basic garment and then add the extra details to tie the costume together by hand. No one was looking forward to that grunt work which was why the girls had decided to go out together to make buying the base garments an enjoyable experience at least. 

“What’s the vibe you are thinking of going for,” Zhenya asked unsure of what to look for as they walked through the shopping center. There were no shortage of beautiful garments but they needed to know what they were supposed to actually be looking for. 

“We weren’t sure but were thinking to just get four relatively pretty simple dresses which are similar save in different colours and we can always add some rhinestones to jazz them up,” Kaetlyn answered looking pensive as though she was thinking through the groups discussions. 

Zhenya nodded appreciatively, “That would work. Are there any shops here that you know which offer what we are looking for.”

Gabby smiled, “Apparently there is aplace to go to buy budget figure skating costume which look half way decent. At least, Tessa, who knows everything about this tour back to front and is probably running it. recommended it to us. 

“What are you dawdling for then,” Wakaba complained gesturing for the other three girls to hurry up and join her in her march towards their destination. 

…

“That dress is beautiful,” Kaetlyn said approaching Zhenya and the younger figure skater started in shock. 

She snatched her hands away from the offending garment. “It’s nice,” she said nonchalantly. With a delicate neckline and lace sleeves whilst the skirt was a good length for her to skate in it looked as though it had been made for her.. The dress itself was a blush pink that was so close to white that one could almost not tell. It was beautiful and Zhenya could see herself dancing Dido in that dress. “How’s you costume hunt going on?”

“It’s good Wakaba and Gabby are currently fighting over who gets to wear the turquoise dress in the design that we chose as they can’t decide whose colouring it would suit better but Zhenya I known you for long enough to know that you are trying to distract me and divert my attention from the mater at hand. What are you thinking about.” Kaetlyn said her focus heavy on the younger skater and Zhenya averted her eyes to avoid Kaetlyn’s searching gaze. 

Zhenya shook her head firmly trying to turn Kaetlyn’s attention of herself, “Nothing it’s just a pretty dress.” 

“What’s your duet about cause you could use it for that.” Katelyn asked thinking for a few seconds. “You said that it was quite a lyrical performance.”

“No it wouldn’t work,” Zhenya said disagreeing emphatically. She could see herself dancing in that dress with Yuzu by her side but she blinked away the image. “Not anymore.”

“Zhenya are you okay,” Katelyn asked staring at the younger girl fiercely. 

Zhenya stepped back quickly as though to get out of the situation and away from Kaetlyn and her searching gaze, “Why do you ask?” She wanted to lie but she couldn’t make herself do it. 

“You don’t look well Zhenya-you’re too pale, your eyes are puffy and slightly bloodshot and your smiles are too wide and fake,” Katelyn said perceptively and Zhenya shrunk into herself had she been so obvious. “ I’m worried about you. We all are.”

Zhenya shook her head and her hands clenched into loose fists, “I’m fine I promise. It’s just been a bit awkward with Yuzu recently.” 

“If you feel as well as you claim to then you must try the dress on—you’ll look beautiful in it,” Katelyn said sternly and Zhenya reluctantly turned to grab the dress and walk to the dressing room. She glanced back to see that Katelyn was talking to Gabby and Wakaba looking serious and she turned back quickly moving towards the changing rooms. 

....

“Yuzu we need to talk to you,” Gabby said headin around the corner. Yuzu’s eyes widened slightly seeing Gabby heading towards him flanked by Wakaba and Katelyn. 

“What about,” Yuzu said backing up a step or two away from the three girls who were heading at him.

Katelyn smiled brightly and Yuzu could tell that it was fake, “What went down between you and Zhenya

“Nothing,” Yuzu protested trying to back away from the three girls who were smiling at him intimidatingly brightly with their teeth showing. “We had a slight disagreement a day or so ago,” he finally said significantly abridging the truth.

“A slight disagreement.” Wakaba said raising an eyebrow dubiously as though to damn Yuzu for not speaking the truth. 

Yuzu ran a hand through his dark hair, “We argued. I said some things that I regret and I tried to apologise but she’s still mad.”

Gabby glances towards Katelyn before looking Yuzu her face murderous, “What did you do? She’d have forgiven you if you’d done almost anything to her.” 

“Tell us,” Katelyn said menacingly supporting Gabby. 

Yuzu looked down unwilling to tell anyone else but the three girls stepped forwards towards him and his resolve crumbled, “I was mad and might have told her she deserved to loose to Zagitova.” The words spilled of him as fast as they could and he glanced up as though to appraise their faces. 

Wakaba stepped forwards angry, “You did what?” 

Gabby grabbed her shoulder and whispered something in her ear that Yuzu couldn’t hear. “What are you going to do about it?” She asked. 

“I’m not sure I tried to apologise but I’m not sure how to make her forgive me,” Yuzu said appealing to them in the hopes that they would provide him with an answer. 

“You have one last chance otherwise we’re not going to let you get anywhere near Zhenya again. You better not mess this up because that girl deserves better than your crap.” Katelyn said staring down the Japanese skater. The three girls turned together and left Yuzu behind in the corridor. 

.... 

“Zhenya can you wait a second,” Zhenya heard a voice yell after her. She was going to try to find the other girls in the lounge—they had disappeared as soon as they had returned to the hotel leaving Zhenya to carry all the bags from their shopping in. They had been heavy and carting them to Kaetlyn’s room that she shared with Gabby had taken her forever and now she just wanted to sit down somewhere and relax. 

She turned to see Yuzu jogging to catch up with her and part of her wanted to run away or to ignore him as though he hadn’t spoken or called her name. Instead she merely raised her chin as though to confront him and asked, “What is it?” 

“I need to tell you about what happened on the first night on the balcony. I backed out of telling you before but I need to tell you.” Yuzu said his face deadly earnest. “You tried to kiss me but you were drunk so I didn’t want to take advantage of you so I kept it secret when you didn’t remember.”

“So you finally decided to man up and tell me,” Zhenya said trying to look unimpressed. She was relieved that she had finally gotten him to tell her the truth but that didn’t make it better. He hadn't told her for days and she couldn't help but feel it was too little too late. Besides its not as though this had any relation to what he’d said to her a few days ago. If all he had done was lie o her that she would have been able to forgive him but as it were apologising for this wasn’t exactly sufficient. 

Yuzu looked puzzled and slightly confused. “Wait so you knew all along even when I was trying to say something at breakfast and when I pretended that nothing had happened.” 

“I never forgot,” Zhenya said turning away from the other skater her memories flashing back to being stuck on that balcony and the freezing cold. “That’s one of the only parts of that night that I can actually remember.”

“So I’ve been stressing about telling you for no reason,” Yuzu said laughing at Zhenya before breaking off when she fixed him with a frosty glare. “Why did you lie?”

Zhenya looked down unwilling to meet Yuzu’s eyes. She had hoped that he wouldn’t bring that up because she had regretted that silly decision of hers almost immediately.. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked to turn the focus from herself onto Yuzu.

“I’m not sure,” Yuzu said after a few seconds looking thoughtful.

“Work that out and then we can consider talking again.” Zhenya said before turning to leave Yuzu alone in the corridor frozen whilst she hurried forwards away from him to find the others.


	11. Part deux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 11 equipped with plenty of confused Yuzu at the end of it and interactions which I was happy with. This is a small relatively filler chapter which is still quite important to my recently revamped plot so I hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks as ever to anyone who has read, left kudos, commented or bookmarked this threat and they are all so important for me to keep myself inspired so I can keep up writing 2,000+ words a day.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to turn up,” Yuzu said finally staring at Zhenya as she arrived in the ice rink. 

Zhenya brushed a few strands of her hair back behind her ear self-consciously and shifted her bag from where it sat on her shoulder, “Well we still need to perform this duet and I want it to look good so we better make this work.”

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed briefly. “We still need to finish the duet as we don’t have much time left before Tessa and Scott want to us to perform it to them.”

Zhenya hadn’t realised that the tour had been going so fast and they’d soon have to start performing regularly but thinking about it Yuzu was right in that they probably had a week or two before they started to have to perform this to the public. “I want to change the concept though,” she said determined.

“What to? It is a bit late to come up with an entirely new program.” Yuzu asked confused.

“I think it’d be better if instead of you playing Aeneas you instead represent the king of the dead Hades who is taking Dido down to her death. I just think it will be easier chemistry-wise and we can still keep our choreo and music we came um with,” Zhenya said the words spilling out of her as fast as they could out of control. That had been part of the deal she had made with herself when she had decided to keep doing the duet with Yuzu because she needed to construct as many boundaries as she could.

“For chemistry-reasons,” Yuzu repeated as though to agree with what Zhenya had just said. He nodded his head slightly unconvinced, “We can make that work if that’s what you would feel more comfortable doing.” 

“Yeah I would feel better doing that,” Zhenya agreed. “I had some ideas about how we could just slightly twist the choreo we had already done and what we could do with it moving forwards to portray how she’s torn between dying or not.”

“That’s no problem,” Yuzu said shaking his head as though to shake himself out of a stupor. “Do you want to get your skates on so we can get to work on the ice?”

“Yeah just give me a moment,” Zhenya said sitting down on a bench and sliding her skates out of her bag. 

“No problem,” Yuzu said before turning to sort out the music on the speakers and Zhenya could hear the first few notes starting to float out and fill the rink. “Have you started to think about costume as Dido?”

Zhenya pulled her two skates on and started to tie up her laces so they were cinched in at her ankles, “I got a dress when I was out with the others but I can always return it if it doesn’t work out.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to sort it out after all your costumes have always been beautiful,” Yuzu said from where he was standing his back to her fiddling with his ipod.

Zhenya flushed slightly glad he wasn’t able to see it especially considering that she was still mad at the Japanese skater. “Well I haven’t got Olga around so I’m not sure how sure I can be that I will be able to maintain my normal standards,” she said brushing aside the rest of his comment. 

“You ready,” he asked sliding the remote into his pocket and stepping onto the ice with ease.

Zhenya checked her skates for the last time to make sure that they were still tight before standing up and heading towards the ice. She stepped onto it gracefully feeling the ice move beneath her as she skated towards the Japanese skater with ease. 

…

At the end of the rehearsal Zhenya was panting, her forehead was slick with sweat and her hair frizzing slightly at the nape of her neck. They had finished the rest of the duet adding a variety of pair movements throughout which Yuzu had apparently gotten Scott and Tessa to teach him over the last few days to make up for the fact that Zhenya still wasn’t able to jump.

She’d been really careful throughout to ensure however that she kept their discussion as cool as possible and professional so that it was solely focused on the choreography. They had a job to do and Zhenya would only be able to do it properly if was able to ensure that there was no drama happening.

“That was really good,” Yuzu said skating to the edge of the ice looking just as dishevelled as Zhenya was. “You picked up the pair movements really fast.” 

“It’s not as though they were incredibly complex,” Zhenya said shrugging uncomfortable under his attention. “It was a good idea of yours work on those though so we can get a bit of added wow factor to our performance.”

“Definitely,” Yuzu agreed getting off the ice and heading towards the bench so he could start to remove his skates. “Costume wise I was thinking for me that I could just wear a black regency style top and black pants now that I’m death.”

“That sounds good though what will your fans say at such an understated outfit.” Zhenya said poking fun at Yuzu from where she stood pressed up against the boards watching him take his skates off. 

Yuzu laughed a single chuckle, “Well I can guarantee there will be as many rhinestones that I can fit onto that top in the time that we have before we need to perform which had better keep them satisfied.” He yanked his skates off and was replacing them with trainers by the time he looked back up at Zhenya, “Why aren’t you taking your skates off.”

Zhenya bit her lip, “I’m meeting Nathan to work on his exhibition with him in preparation for the show—that’s why we were watching the movie together.”

Something flashed across Yuzu’s features but he easily moulded them back into a controlled mask and Zhenya wasn’t sure if she hadn’t just made up the moment of uncertainty that she had seen in his face, “That sounds fun. Is his exhibition good.”

“I really like it—he really gets who he’s trying to play and we’ve been working on it for a couple days together so I can see the impact of my suggestions.” Zhenya said thinking back to the past days. The rink with Nathan working on his exhibition had become a form of escape for her and she’d enjoyed her time there more than anything else.

Yuzu smiled though at least from Zhenya’s perspective he looked slightly pained as he tucked his skates into his bag, “You seem happy.”

“I am,” Zhenya said after a few moments of hesitation as she thought about Yuzu’s few words. “I don’t know what I would have done without his support in the last week or so.”

Yuzu was just about to speak when they both heard the door swing open and loud confident footsteps fill the otherwise quiet room. “Zhenya are you there?” a voice asked that Zhenya was able to identify with ease based off of the clear American accent. 

“Yeah,” She called out as Nathan came into her sight from around a corner. “I’m just finishing up with Yuzu.”

“Is everything okay,” Nathan asked from where he had approached with a note of caution in his voice as he glanced from Zhenya to Yuzu as though to make sure that he wasn’t entering into a loaded situation and to establish the lay of the land. 

Yuzu stood up shoving the bag with his skates in it to his shoulder roughly, ‘I’m about to go so you guys can get started.” His shoulder brushed against Nathan’s as Zhenya watch the two men but he no longer seemed openly hostile towards the younger American. 

“I’ll see you later man,” Nathan said turning back to watch Yuzu leave the room before looking back to where Zhenya stood routed in her position on the ice. “Is everything okay with you,” he asked with a protective tinge to his voice.

“Yeah. I kept it as civil as I could and he didn’t overstep any of the boundaries that I put up,” Zhenya said going over her training session with Yuzu that had happened not 10 minutes ago. 

Nathan smiled sympathetically, “That’s good okay. Your friendship with Yuzu needs to be on your terms now not his if you want it to survive.”

“I know,” Zhenya said smiling. “Now are you ready to skate or not.”

…

Yuzu was mad. Scratch that he was fuming and every part of him hurt and he wasn’t sure why. It all radiated out of his sore ankle and throughout his body, which ached fiercely.

The entire training session with Zhenya had been incredibly painful for him as she had spent the entire time trying to avoid his company or any prolonged touch that she deemed to be unnecessary and not to the benefit of their routine. He should have expected it from the first second that she had stated that she wasn’t comfortable with the pair of them playing lovers.

It wasn’t as though he had suggested them to play Dido and Aeneas because they were lovers but he did think that their close friendship would lend itself well to the dynamic between the two at least according to his impression from when he had listened to the music. In contrast Dido and the shade of the dead that Zhenya had strongly suggested was a far less romantic duet that had more tension and disagreement and less tragedy. Besides it was clear to anyone that they would have changed the topic of the duet because they weren’t able to successfully portray the dynamic properly. 

No one had ever accused Yuzu of not having enough chemistry and he couldn’t help but be annoyed. But that annoyance was nothing in comparison to his anger when he realised how happy she seemed to be thinking about Nathan. A fragment of himself the unselfish part was happy for her and that she had someone to smile about but the larger dominant part was annoyed that he was no longer the source for her smiles and instead merely the reason for her perpetual frown that had rested upon her face for the session. 

Instead she was happy about spending time with Nathan but Yuzu wasn’t even able to hate the American skater anymore. He had hated him for his friendship with Zhenya with ease but after he had spoken with the boy he couldn’t fault him for caring about Zhenya. Anyone would have to be blind to her and her compassion and everything, which made her unique to, not care for Zhenya and as a result Yuzu couldn’t begrudge him the fact that he was there for her.

If anything though whilst he had won over Nathan enough that the American skater wouldn’t cause trouble between him and Zhenya’s friendship that he was trying to rebuild and the girls had all agreed to give him one last chance so all he had to do was win over Zhenya. He already knew that that would be harder than he might like but there was something about her that was driving him crazy, which he couldn’t put into words. Maybe it was the fact she was no longer hanging around him as much and he missed her or the fact mere fact that if she didn’t loathe him was coolly indifferent. Whenever he saw her now though he could feel his blood boiling in his veins and didn’t want to let her out of his sight which made it all the more painful when she seemed to be trying to conceal her urges to run away from him at all times. 

Yuzu shook his head twice as though to wake himself up. He was obsessing over nothing and this was only distracting him from more important issues.


	12. Truth or Dare, Kiss or Swear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the latest chapter of MYRJ and whilst I'm not completely happy about it quite a lot of stuff goes down so it is quite important. I wrote this whilst watching FAOI which was amazing and I was crying during Zhenya's routine especially considering she choreographed it herself apparently and I'm now inspired to add a solo ex into this for her to do if I can find a good enough song. Yuzu's was amazing but I can't forgive his abomination of a costume except by saying that at least he didn't look self-conscious in it. Thanks as always to my amazing readers and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.  
> VerityXxX

“Zhenya you coming,” Wakaba asked from where she was standing by Zhenya’s door. Alina had already left to hang out with Satoko and Zhenya was just sitting on her bed scrolling through her Instagram feed.

Zhenya set her phone down, “Coming where.”

“Kaetlyn and Gabby are throwing a small party in their room. Apparently, they think that the group mojo amongst the younger skaters needs to be sorted out,” Wakaba’s tone was light and slightly mocking and Zhenya couldn’t help but smile. 

“What group mojo,” Zhenya teased back feeling slightly guilty. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that her actions had at least indirectly added to the tension in the group.

Wakaba laughed, “That will be the problem Zhen. They’ve invited everyone except Tessa, Scott, Patrick and Javier because they didn’t want to drag the average age up and it is not as though they’re the ones causing trouble. Scott was telling me just yesterday that it currently looks like we are just very bad at pretending to like each other ”

“I don’t need to pretend to like anyone Waka,” Zhenya said smiling indulgently as she started to get her stuff ready.

Wakaba scoffed at Zhenya’s lazy smile, “Just Yuzu.”

Zhenya laughed indignantly at the Japanese skater who was grinning at her, “We don’t go there, Waka okay.” She paused looking at the girl for a second trying to pin down the look that was in her eyes, “ Did you talk to him.”

Wakaba looked down shiftily and Zhenya fixed a harsh glare on her. “It was Gabby’s idea,” she admitted reluctantly. “She just wanted to check out the situation from his side as you weren’t telling us anything.”

“Waka,” Zhenya hissed. “What did you say to him?”

“Not much. We just gave him a little bit of shovel talk,” Wakaba answered looking defensive. “And I might have wanted to beat him up until Gabby talked me out of it.”

“Shit Waka,” Zhenya said stressing out at this as it was far worse than she had expected it to be. Wakaba had wanted to beat Yuzu up. “I wanted to ignore him and just keep our relationship civil. Having you guys acting like my henchmen isn’t going to help with that.”

Wakaba rolled her eyes, “It’s not like I actually beat the guy up even though he would’ve deserved it. Besides if you don’t want us going to Yuzu and doing what we think is best you need to keep us informed about what you’re thinking of so we don’t mess up your plans.” 

“Sorry Wakaba,” Zhenya said slightly self-consciously. “You would have no reason to not go to him as I didn’t tell you what I was planning and I get that you guys were just trying to look out for me.” She paused for a second, “What did Yuzu say to you guys.” 

“Nothing I’m allowed to tell you.” Wakaba said emphatically. “Though I will say that he really wants for you guys to make up. But we need to get going before we are too late and Tessa will get annoyed at me and I really don’t like it when she does that.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed moving towards the door but she couldn’t stop thinking about what Wakaba had just told her.

…

The music was loud but not overwhelmingly so and everyone was congregated around the tv which had been set up to play karaoke songs by the time Yuzu showed up and when they shifted Yuzu spotted a visibly tipsy Gabby singing the song from Titanic towards Kaetlyn who looked less than impressed.

“You made it,” Shoma exclaimed leaving the group and heading towards Yuzu who was lingering in the doorway. “You’re the last one to get here.”

“Wait, what?” Yuzu asked confused about what was going on his senses still bombarded by Gabby’s screeching soprano. “Whose here.”

Shomo laughed, “Everyone. Do you want a drink.”

“Sure,” Yuzu said stumbling forward. This seemed very similar to the party on the first day when he had messed everything up and part of him wished that he could go back to then and change everything that had happened albeit on a smaller scale and slightly more forbidden as he guessed that Tessa and Scott wouldn’t have known about it.

“Yuzu you’re here,” Boyang said turning and clasping Yuzu in a bro hug that he quickly extracted himself from. “Can we play truth or dare now?” he asked addressing his question towards the two Canadian women who were serenading each other. 

Zhenya who had turned to look at him when she had heard Boyang call out his name, however, took Yuzu’s attention. Her dark hair was loose hanging around her shoulders and she was holding onto Wakaba with her cheeks flushed a rosy pink and she was happy. But her face when she saw him fell into a frown until Wakaba whispered something into her ear and Zhenya broke into a laugh again. 

“Truth or dare,” Yuzu heard Boyanng, Shoma and Nathan chant from behind him as Shoma returned with a cup full of alcohol that Yuzu knocked back quickly burning the back of his throat. 

“That’s fucking lame,” Wakaba protested from her spot beside Zhenya her speech slightly slurred.

Nathan laughed, “What do you want to play spin the bottle we’re figure skaters we are basically supposed to be lame.” The American had a point Yuzu conceded but he was nonetheless surprised when he found everyone settling into a circle on the group with the TV still playing out the instrumental karaoke music.

Boyang had obtained a bottle from somewhere and spun it until it landed on Kaetlyn. “Truth or dare?” he asked laughing.

“Dare,” Kaetlyn giggled back the rest of the group sitting waiting around her and Yuzu awkwardly crossed his legs remembering why he hated games like this.

“Go…to Patrick’s room and give him a red lipstick stain on the cheek whilst he’s sleeping,” Boyang said after a few moments of consideration and Yuzu could see Kaetlyn considering refusing the dare. Instead, however, she headed into her ensuite bathroom and grabbing a red lipstick applied it before leaving the room with an emphatic swing. 

“So who is next,” Shoma said from where he sat next to where Kaetlyn had been sitting. He leaned forward to spin the bottle until it came to a stop on Zhenya. “Truth or Dare.”

Yuzu stiffened up as he waited for Zhenya’s response. Eventually, she said, “Truth,” and he felt his stomach drop into his shoes. 

“Do you have a crush on anyone in the circle,” Shoma asked grinning smugly and Yuzu couldn’t help but want to throttle the boy at the same time as wanting to find out whatever Zhenya was going to say.

Zhenya laughed and instead of answering the question downed one of the bottles of alcohol that sat in the middle of the circle.“Is that enough of an answer for you,”she joked before spnning the bottle until it settled upon Gabby and repeating towards her, “Truth or dare?”

The game continued around Yuzu but he couldn’t help but think about Zhenya’s reaction to Shoma’s question and wonder why she had chosen not to answer it either way. If there was no one in the group who she had had a crush on then surely she would have answered saying no but she was clearly unwilling to tell the truth, which meant that, she was hiding something from the group. Yuzu scanned the circle his eyes fixing on Nathan at last, there was no one else who it would make sense for Zhenya to be concealing her attraction to based off who she seemed to spend her time with

“Yuzu truth or dare,” Wakaba called out and Yuzu glanced up distracted after a few seconds to see the bottle that was pointing towards him. “Hurry up,” she prompted pushing Yuzu into action.

“Truth,” Yuzu said quickly wanting to get the focus of everyone else left in the circle off him and onto the others. 

Wakaba smiled brightly and Yuzu felt something twist in his stomach and he sipped on the cup of alcohol that sat beside him, “What action of yours do you regret the most from the last week.”

Yuzu paused trying to think through the last week and sort his thoughts into order to work out what he could say which would still be the truth, “I said something which hurt someone who I care about and I regret that more than I can say.” 

There was a moment of silence around the room as everyone tried to interpret what Yuzu had said. “Who is it?” Boyang asked after a few seconds.

“You guys only get one truth,” Yuzu joked back forcing a smile on his face as he tried to liven the mood. He spun the bottle quickly until it landed on Satoko, “Truth or Dare?” he asked. It was only then he looked up to see that Zhenya was watching him with her cool brown gaze looking uncertain and he averted his eyes quickly from her towards Wakaba who looked quietly triumphant

“Dare,” Satoko said in her quiet voice and Yuzu wasn’t surprised after some of the more invasive questions that had been asked.

He racked his brains trying to think of something original but all he said ended up saying was, “Kiss the person to your left.”

Satoko looked mildly horrified to see Shoma sitting beside her who was smiling grotesquely at her on purpose and she cast a desperate glance at Yuzu who merely smiled back at her. She pressed her lips against Shoma’s for a few seconds after deliberating for a moment or two.

At the same time Kaetlyn came back in the carefully applied red lipstick smudged and her hair slightly askew, “Are we playing spin the bottle now cause that’s so much funnier than truth or dare.” She asked curiously spotting Shoma and Satoko’s locked lips. For whilst Yuzu felt a hole opening up beneath him everyone else seemed pro the idea so the game quickly shifted with nervous giggles filling the room as they waited to spin the bottle.

Initially, the game was amusing with Yuzu draining more and more alcohol every time the bottle went spinning around the circle until his thoughts were swimming and his head ached distantly in time with the music that the tv was emitting stubbornly. They all laughed as Gabby was forced to kiss Kaetlyn whose red lipstick smeared onto Gabby’s lips and even when little Alina who had been sitting in the corner quietly had pecked Nathan’s when the bottle had landed on her. 

However, as the bottle continued spinning round Yuzu found himself trying to calculate the odds about whether Zhenya would be picked with the bottle settling on Wakaba who sat on Zhenya’s right at five or six times leading to the confident younger skater to kiss her way around half the circle laughing it off each time.

The wave of good luck had to end however and as though the bottle was sitting in slow motion he saw the bottle land on Zhenya who picked it up giggling whilst tossing her hair back behind one shoulder. She called something across the circle to Nathan but Yuzu couldn’t hear over the sound of the blood that was pulsing through his ears and all he could smell was a slight scent of jasmine mixed with alcohol that seemed to suffocate him.

Zhenya leant down to set the bottle on the floor and spun it with deft hands and it rotated there as fast as any of them could rotate on the ice. As it spun Yuzu could feel the blood heating up in his veins as he tried to work out who it would land on and a peculiar pressure build up within his chest. The bottle had just started to slow down when Yuzu pushed himself to his feet and making hasty excuses and thanking Gabby and Kaetlyn left the room—he wasn’t the first to go with Satoko leaving shortly after her kiss with Shoma and Alina had disappeared some time as well. 

He had just left the room when his ears cleared and he heard the bottle stop and a flurry of giggles inside the room and filled with anger that seemed to surface from nowhere he punched the wall of the corridor bruising his knuckles hard. His pride smarting at his loss of control as much of his hands were Yuzu hurried through the corridors towards his bedroom to sleep off the alcohol he had consumed. 

It was only the next day when Shoma had informed him that the bottle had stopped on Yuzu’s empty spot in the circle and they had been laughing as they decided what that meant about that round and who Zhenya ought kiss—ultimately deciding that the game was boring as returning to karaoke—that Yuzu regretted his decision to leave.


	13. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is uber late and I'm sorry but I had to pull an all-nighter in an attempt to finish this chapter on time. I hope that everyone likes this chapter however as a lot of things go on with this chapter even if it's not as fleshed out as I might have liked and it's quite important for the story. As always thanks to everyone who has reviewed, read or bookmarked it and see you tomorrow.  
> Verity XxX

“That was awful,” Tessa said from where she was standing on the ice beside Scott. “What happened to the whole romantic angle that you told me you were going for.” They were here to get a final peek at the duet before the first show that was only a few days away now and based off of their reaction it seemed clear that they weren’t impressed

“We changed the plot,” Yuzu explained trying to work out how to tell Tessa what had changed. He wasn’t used to his performances being regarded as rubbish. “I’m no longer Aeneas but more Hades taking Dido down to the underworld.”

“Why did you change it,” Scott asked confused as he tried to establish a narrative and Yuzu could feel his cheeks redden. 

“I wasn’t comfortable with the idea. We didn’t have enough chemistry to pull of being lovers to the extent that Dido would kill herself over him,” Zhenya said skating over to stand in front of the others slightly out of breath. 

Tessa narrowed her eyes as she glanced between the pair, “Neither of you ever struggle to carry a storyline especially you Zhenya.”

“It wasn’t working so we changed it,” Zhenya protested. “We had to think about what would be for the best of the routine especially considering the limited timeframe.”

“But Dido wants to die,” Scott asked a little puzzled. “She commits suicide correct.”

Yuzu nodded, “She’s heartbroken at the idea of living without Aeneas so she chooses to die.” He wasn’t sure what Scott was getting at but he had the feeling that he was playing into a trap that he didn’t completely understand. 

“Than why does your Dido look terrified at the idea of death and even as though she hates the idea of death,” Scott asked perceptively.

Tessa nodded, “This isn’t Persephone and Dido isn’t being kidnapped but choosing to go. You can have her being slightly unwilling when she starts to realise what it might mean but you should be seducing her into death and making her think it’s a good idea. “

“At the moment we can’t tell what story you are trying to tell as neither of you are performing convincingly so it just looks like you are trying to do two solos on stage. You have no connection,” Scott said after a few moments and Yuzu felt his heart sink down into his skates. 

He had expected something like that from them based off of the trainings but it still hurt. He had tried to tell the story but it wasn’t as strong as it had been initially and it needed to be told together, “What do you want us to do?”

“You need to add more enigma and mystery. The choreography is good but you need to find that chemistry which will bring it together,” Tessa said looking unimpressed.

Zhenya had a pensive look on her face that Yuzu couldn’t pin down in response to Tessa’s words and he hoped that it didn’t mean she wanted to get out of the duet. “How long do we have,” Zhenya finally asked.

“Two days maximum. We can’t risk having you guys performing this until we are sure that it will look good on the tour, as we don’t want to disappoint any of the fans because we need to put out programs that we can stand behind,” Tessa said matter of factly. “If you guys don’t sort this out then we’ll have to pull the duet.”

“Wait what,” Yuzu exclaimed in confusion. They couldn’t pull the duet—Zhenya was only doing the duet as a featured performer at the moment in the tour.

Scott shrugged as he and Tessa got off the ice, “Sorry mate. We haven’t got any other choice at the moment. You guys can fix this though you just need to connect.”

“Do you want to do another run through then,” Yuzu asked turning back to look at Zhenya. 

“What’s the point,” Zhenya said skating towards the edge of the rink to get off the ice. “This program clearly isn’t working anymore so why bother training.”

Yuzu followed her to the edge of the ice frustrated, “I thought you don’t give up Zhenya isn’t that why you are moving to Orser. We can fix this if you want to Zhenya.”

Zhenya looked down and Yuzu felt certain that she was just going to leave but instead she just nodded her head, “I can do that if you want to as well.”

“Then let us do the routine one more time and then afterwards we can talk about what we should next so that we can work out what we ought to work on,” Yuzu said optimistically though a surge of hope surged up within him at Zhenya being willing to try again. 

He turned the music on and offered Zhenya a hand as he turned to skate back into the middle. She didn’t take his hand though and instead skated into her starting position and when they heard their cue to start they both sprung into movement in unison. 

The routine went faster than Yuzu had expected it to and whilst it still wasn’t perfect and Yuzu could feel the tension in her body especially when they were doing their movements together. However, he could see Zhenya’s face throughout and instead of the small closed up face that she’d had in their run through with Tessa and Scott watching he could see her tentatively adding the performance magic which she was able to bring to any of her routines extending her arms and using her face to tell the story. 

When the pair of them finally sunk to the ground, as Zhenya ‘died’ Yuzu could almost feel something within himself and unlike before Zhenya was relaxed in his arms as earlier she had been taunt supporting her entire body weight as though it was an attempt to avoid or minimise contact with him.

Zhenya rolled off from where she had been positioned on top of Yuzu and pushed herself to her feet easily, “That was better I think.”

“Yeah,” Yuzu agreed following suite and standing up from his position on the ground. “I was thinking though we could have me wear a mask or something at the beginning to portray how Dido doesn’t understand the reality of death and then when we come together you can rip it off and then we can have Dido offer some resistance before she finally ends up dying because it is too late.”

“I like that,” Zhenya said skating towards the exit of the rink and climbing off the ice. “That way we can show more of a range in the story which would make more sense as at the moment we are missing that emotional edge to the story.”

Yuzu followed Zhenya and perched himself on the bench beside her as she started to remove her skates quickly and started to swiftly remove his own. “Perfect is it okay if I come by your room later so we can finish going over this.”

“No worries,” Zhenya said tucking her skates into her bag roughly. “I’ll catch you later.”

“Sure,” Yuzu murmured almost inaudibly and he finished untying his laces and tucked them into his bag alone in the quiet and cold room that housed the ice rink.

…

“Zhenya you in there,” A voice called from behind the door to her room.

Zhenya pushed herself to her feet from where she was perched on her bed and she walked quickly over to the door which she unlocked and pulled open, “What are you doing here Nathan—I’m supposed to be meeting Yuzu soon to go over our pair routine.”

Nathan entered the room the guitar that he held in his left hand only visible now, “Yuzu?”

“Apparently our duet is rubbish according to Tessa and Scott so we are trying to save it,” Zhenya sat back down on her bed with a sight. “Why do you have a guitar?”

Nathan laughed and perched himself down on the end of Zhenya’s bed, “I’m bored and I was mucking around on my guitar but then I wanted to see if you were around but I wasn’t bothered to go back to my room.”

“Play something for me then,” Zhenya commanded laughing as she folded her legs up and onto her bed. 

Nathan settled his guitar against his chest as he strummed a few chords on the guitar as though to warm the instrument up. “You’ve got to sing along then,” he teased back his eyes shining brightly.

“What if I don’t know the song,” Zhenya joked back sitting upright on her bed.

Nathan grinned brightly, “You had better know the song otherwise I’m disowning you and we are no longer friends.”

Zhenya was about to complain again before Nathan played the first few chords gently his hands moving in a pattern of arpeggios deftly. “I hate this song,” Zhenya groaned mostly in jest. “Love is all around us.”

“Sing it,” Nathan joked repeating the pattern in the guitar again waiting for Zhenya to start singing.

Zhenya laughed before singing in her own peculiar low voice, “I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes.” After a few lines, however, Zhenya collapsed into laughter at Nathan’s expression as he strummed on the guitar pushing her to keep on going. Eventually after a few bars after Zhenya had stopped he played a small guitar solo that Zhenya couldn’t help but giggle at he finished shaking his dark curls around as though he was a rock star.

“You haven’t got a half bad voice,” Nathan said smiling setting the guitar down gently on the floor.

Zhenya lifted her chin to allow her to look Nathan in the eye, “You are not half bad at the guitar.” He wasn’t bad at all yet Zhenya had a feeling he was being polite as her unique voice especially when she was singing was often the but of teasing whenever she had singing back in her old rink. 

“In all seriousness though what is going on with you and Yuzu because I’m on your side definitely but I am completely confused?” Nathan questioned tangling his hands together in his lap.

Zhenya sighed trying to find the right words to put the situation that didn’t understand herself in words, “I don’t even know. He’s trying to make amends but I’m not convinced by anything he’s saying and I don’t know what to do around him most of the time anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not much but I don’t trust him the same way that I used to and as a result, I don’t want to let him in as I don’t know what he’s going to do in the future,” Zhenya looked down before laughing slightly. “He used to be predictable you know but now I don’t know what to expect from him and that scares him.”

Nathan smiled at her encouragingly, “I know that you’ll be okay Zhenya if there is anyone who can take on Yuzu it’d be you.”

“Sure,” Zhenya said smiling her eyes fixed on Nathan. They hadn’t been friends for long just since February and had only really started to get close from the beginning of this tour. Regardless she wasn’t sure what she would have done without him in the last week or two. “You know that you have been a godsend to me recently,” she asked teasingly towards the young American skater.

“I like you Zhenya. You’re a good person and you go along with your principals above all else,” Nathan said smiling at Zhenya. “I don’t know many people like that.” 

Zhenya couldn’t help but smile at Nathan his words providing the boost to her self-confidence that she needed. “Thanks.”

“This is going to sound really bad but can I try something,” Nathan asked after a few seconds quietly and Zhenya was forced to lean in as she attempted to understand what Nathan was asking her. 

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed smiling indulgently at Nathan. In her head, she was trying to work out whatever Nathan wanted from her but she couldn't tell and his face was impenetrable. “What is it?” she taunted leaning in towards the other skater.

Nathan leant in as though to whisper something back to Zhenya but instead he leaned in too far and instead of taunting her he pressed his lips against hers. They were cold, not unpleasant to the touch but she didn’t feel anything inside her like she imagined she would and instead she could just distantly see everything that was going on around her distracted by her surroundings. 

After a few seconds and upon hearing a noise through the open door to her room Zhenya finally moved away from Nathan whose ears were slightly pink. “Did you feel anything,” Nathan asked unsure at Zhenya couldn't help but feel that despite him being 6 months older than her he was more of a child than she was.

Zhenya bit her tongue unwilling to answer Nathan’s question, as she didn’t want to hurt the other skater, “Not really”

“Thank god,” Nathan said laughing and Zhenya couldn’t help but join in at the absurdity of the situation. “I wasn’t sure because I don’t have many friends who are girls but there’s nothing there. You could be my sister.” 

“Except that would be creepy considering that logic means you just kissed your sister.” Zhenya teased. “But yeah I think we’re better off as friends if that is okay.” She couldn't help but watch Nathan's reaction but the other skater was still laughing

Nathan pushed himself to his feet quickly, “Trust me it’s more than okay. I’ll catch you later then cause Yuzu will probably be getting here soon and I don’t want to cause any more tension.”

Zhenya passed up the guitar from where it sat on the ground to Nathan who had stood up and was walking towards the door, “I’ll see you at dinner Romeo ‘kay.”

“Laters Zhenya,” Nathan said stepping through the open door and slamming it shut behind him leaving Zhenya alone in her bedroom.


	14. Epiphany

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so tiring to write and congrats to everyone who picked up it was Yuzu at the door(I thought it was subtle but clearly not :( ). This is the first chapter I think that is wholly Yuzu Centric and it is fairly crucial to plot as what you guys have been hoping for has finally happened so now they are a step closer to end-game. Thanks as always to everyone who reviews, leaves kudos and even just reads my story I appreciate all of you and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Yuzu walked through the corridors quickly his steps light and with purpose. In one hand he clutched a small notebook in which he brainstormed ideas for routines so he could make more notes easily and the other was tucked into his hoodie pocket. He had just rounded the corner and realised that he could hear the sound of a guitar and what seemed to be Zhenya singing emitting from the open door in her room. Shifting his weight forwards onto his toes Yuzu crept forwards until he was positioned in a place so that he could see into Zhenya’s room but what invisible from inside.

It was just Nathan and Zhenya inside the room and Yuzu breathed out a subconscious sigh of relief but he wasn’t sure why. He was about to knock on the door and officially introduce himself so they could get started on working on the program. He was about to take a couple steps forward into the room but then he saw Nathan lean forwards towards Zhenya and press his lips against hers.

They were beautiful together and the artistic side of Yuzu could appreciate the symmetry of the pair of them together. Zhenya’s hair was loose against her back and from what Yuzu could see her eyes were closed and Nathan had a hand pressed gently against her cheek. He stood there frozen for a few seconds but it felt like a millennia unable to tear his eyes away from Zhenya and Nathan. And he hated them for that. What right did the pair of them have to look so right together why did they get to have this on top of everything else.

Eventually, the notebook slipped out of his fingers that had relaxed whilst he had been watching the pair of them and he quickly bent to snatch up the notebook from the ground. Within the room, he heard the pair of them laughing and scared that they might come to the door to detect the source of the noise Yuzu, with the notebook clutched in his hands tightly, ran.

The burst of adrenaline only lasted as long as it took Yuzu to turn the corner into an abandoned corridor away from Zhenya’s room. Coming to a halt Yuzu angrily brushed aside the moisture that had built up in his eyes and clenched his hands into fists with his fingernails biting into the palms of his hands as he tried to stop himself from showing any external reaction.

He felt like an idiot more than anything else and Yuzu cursed himself for heading to Zhenya’s room with such enthusiasm if he’d even slowed down for a few moments more than he might not have seen them together for that image of the two of them seemed to have seared itself into his brain and he could see it whenever he had closed his eyes. 

Part of him was angry and wanted him to march back in and beat up Nathan for daring to lay a hand on Zhenya but he knew that this feeling of his was completely irrational. He had to concede that Nathan was a good guy based off of his actions, which made it impossible for Yuzu to hate him, as he wanted to. Besides he didn’t understand why he cared considering that he and Zhenya were just friends if that at the moment so his feeling of revulsion upon seeing them together was completely unwarranted.

“Yuzu are you okay there,” a voice asked concerned and Yuzu glanced up to see Javier standing in front of him.

“I’m fine,” Yuzu said shoving his turmoil down and assumed a controlled exterior. “What are you doing here?”

“Zhenya texted me wondering where you were,” Javier explained after a few seconds and at that Yuzu felt his exterior crack. “What is going on with you Yuzu at the moment.”

Yuzu looked down trying to find the words to describe the feelings that had been taking over him in the last few days, “I just saw Nathan kissing Zhenya.” 

“Are you okay with that?” Javier asked after a few seconds whilst he tried to comprehend the massive bomb that Yuzu had delivered to him.

Yuzu bit his lips as he tried to work out what he ought to say to Javier’s loaded question, “I’m not really sure to be honest. I think I should be okay with it but seeing them together just made me feel sick in my stomach and angry.”

“Sit down here Yuzu,” Javier said affectionately settling himself down onto the carpeted floor and patting the floor behind him as though to welcome Yuzu to sit beside him. “I think we need to have a chat.”

Yuzu looked at the spot beside Javier dubiously before sitting down beside the older Spanish skater with more than a little, “What do you want to talk to me about? “

“So Yuzu I’m asking this as someone who looks on you as a brother but what do you think about Zhenya?” Javier asked his voice condensing towards Yuzu and Yuzu couldn’t help but subconsciously bristle in response. 

“We’re friends like we’ve been for years,” Yuzu said slightly confused at Javier’s question and not understanding what Javier wanted him to say or was getting at. “If anything we are hanging out less than we ever did before.”

Javier nodded slowly as though he was thinking about whatever Yuzu had said to him, “How does that make you feel then that Zhenya is spending less time with you?”

“I’m not sure,” Yuzu said thinking back from the last few days. Since the start of the tour, his emotions regarding Zhenya and even just in general, had been out of whack with him struggling to understand what was going on. “I think it hurts.”

“Good,” Javier said and Yuzu couldn’t help but wonder what Javier wanted to get out of this conversation. “What about it hurts?”

“The fact that she clearly prefers over people’s company over mine,” Yuzu said quickly in response to Javier’s questions the words tripping out of his mouth quickly.

“Why do you think you care so much about her though,” Javier said and Yuzu felt like now he could tell what the Spaniard was trying to get out. 

Yuzu drew his eyebrows together as he thought for a few seconds, “Because she’s my friend.” He knew it was only a half-truth but he didn’t want to admit whatever the real truth might be. 

“So you would react the same if I was hanging out with Patrick or Scott more than normal,” Javier pressed with a slight glint in his eye that made it look like he was close to achieving whatever end goal he had given himself. 

Yuzu couldn’t help but laugh, “No I wouldn’t at least I don’t think so.” 

“So what makes Zhenya different except the fact that she isn’t a stunning charismatic Spanish skater. Why are you jealous when it comes to her but not anyone else,” Javier said grinning at the first part of the sentence. 

Yuzu tore at the carpet beneath him with is fringes as he tried to keep his hands close to motionless as though he could thus control his emotion to ensure that he didn’t let anything he might regret, “I’m not jealous and its the fact that she is Zhenya that is special about her as no one has the small mental strength as her or drive to succeed.”

“Initially have you told that to Zhenya because I think that’s the stuff you want to be telling her if you want to win your way may into her good books? Anyways Yuzu you are jealous if you would rather she spend more time with you instead of others and are jealous that she might spend more time with some of them.” Javier said patiently as he spelt out the entire situation to a still confused Yuzu. 

“Maybe I am jealous then,” Yuzu said agreeing with Javier unwilling to draw any more of Javier’s fire onto himself. “But why do you think I care so much about her. She’s just a girl and it is not as though I spend that much time with her. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Zhenya is a pretty smart witty girl,” Javier said shrugging a shoulder. “It’s not surprising that you care about her.”

Yuzu shook his head earnestly as though he was trying to convince Javier of his point emphatically, “But I’m not supposed to do that. I’m not meant to care about people and form attachments they’ll just distract me from skating.”

“So, you can’t let expectations get in the way of what is best for you,” Javier answered sagely before fixing Yuzu with a stare that seemed to pierce through him. 

“What do you think I should do then,” Yuzu queried. He needed to get some answers out of Javier cause he could still feel this unfamiliar feeling bubbling up in his chest and the pressure of it only seemed to be increasing.

“You have to decide,” Javier said simply. “What would your reaction be if you were to find out that Zhenya and Nathan were dating—would you be cool for it.”

Yuzu could feel something inside him retch at the idea of what Javier was suggesting and that odd warmth flooded through him almost burning his fingers, “I don’t think I could deal with that.” In his minds eye he could just see Zhenya kissing Nathan and them then laughing at him and the image was almost driving him mad. 

“Wel,l in that case, Yuzu you have to act,” Javier said simply pushing himself up to his feet. “Zhenya isn’t going to wait around for you to decide whether you love her or not so you need to act.”

Yuzu, however, didn’t hear the words that Javier said other than the word ‘love’. That’s what it was this peculiar feeling inside of him that seemed to threaten to consume him whole and leave a charred husk. Taking a hand that Javier offered he pulled himself up into a standing position. The flames inside him had subsided now that Yuzu had a name to put on them and he could feel it burning like a small candle within his heart. “Thank you, Javi I needed this chat from you.”

“No worries man,” Javier said clasping Yuzu into an uncomfortable one-armed hug that Yuzu found himself trying o worm out of as fast as he could. “You are like my brother even if I’m not going to be at TCC anymore. Besides I feel like I ought to have had this chat with you earlier cause it might have fixed some problems.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but smile at Javier’s compassion towards him that was emblematic of the Spanish skater who he had skated beside for more than 5 years, “You couldn’t have done anything more for me without donating a kidney.”

“Now squirt go and work out what you are going to do with this now because I can guarantee that you duet’s chemistry will change massively even if you don’t talk to Zhenya.” Javier joked but Yuzu couldn’t help but feel like he was correct. What were they going with the duet, as Yuzu wasn’t sure how he would be able to change the plot of the duet again at the teenage part of Yuzu felt like he wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off of Zhenya now he knew what he knew.

“See you later then, and thanks” Yuzu said responding to Javier leaving and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel guilty especially as he wasn’t going to be at TCC

Yuzu waited until Javier had gone and sat in the corridor thinking about what he ought to do. He knew he should bottle it this up but he didn’t want to because he had finally worked everything out so it made sense. Part of him wanted to talk to Zhenya and tell him how he felt but she was clearly was with Nathan at the moment and Yuzu didn’t want risk her extinguishing his little candle when she inevitably rejected him.


	15. Affirmations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter of MYRJ and it is not being updated at midnight because I didn't procrastinate writing it as much as I normally do. This chapter as I promised basically deals with the dynamic between the pair of them and gives a bit of an insight into Zhenya as well as bringing Alina back into the story because i feel like she's been a bit unloved so far in favour of Gabby, Wakaba and Kaetlyn who in my story at least have bigger personalities. 
> 
> I was also just wondering if anyone had any music or concepts they would like to recommend for either Alina and Satoko's duet, Nathan, Boyang and Shoma (who are currently doing a boy band themed number but I'm not sure about the music or Javier, Patrick and Scott's trio because whilst I can do it I thought it would be fun if you guys could get involved as I always have so much music that I want people to skate to so I love being able to put in this fic all of those songs. Additionally, if you have any songs you want any of the skaters to do an ex to individually just put that into a comment and I will find a way to fit that into the story and all submissions will make an appearance. 
> 
> Thanks as ever to everyone who reads this story, reviews or leaves kudos and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Zhenya winced as she pressed the needle into her finger drawing a droplet of blood to the surface. She’d been making minor alterations to the dress that they had purchased only a few days ago but Zhenya hated sewing and was ridiculously slow. She’d been toiling over this dress for the last hour and a half but wasn’t yet half way through it. 

Standing up and casting the dress aside Zhenya quickly entered the ensuite bathroom so she could get a tissue to ensure that she didn’t stain the pale fabric. She heard someone open the door into the bedroom and the sound of them kicking their shoes off and the creaking of the bed springs, “Whose there?”

“It’s just me Zhenchka,” the voice said from behind the closed bathroom door. “How are you?” 

Satisfied that the blood had been wiped off her finger Zhenya pushed the door open to see Alina who was perched on her own bed threading her fingers together, “I’m fine I just can’t sew.” Zhenya sat down bacak on her bed and pulled the dress back onto her lap.

“Me and Satoko finished our dresses yesterday. She is amazing at sewing and designing so she took the lead there I just provided manual labour,” Alina explained opening a bottle of shimmery blue nail varnish.

Zhenya sighed as she threaded the needle again before poking it back into the fabric of the dress, “How is your routine?”

“It’s good I think. But your routine with Yuzu is almost certainly going to be the show stopper of the tour at least according to twitter,” Alina said her mouth twisting pensively and she started to brush the first layer of the polish onto her fingernails.

Zhenya laughed, “Only if we get it to work properly. Tessa and Scott were considering pulling it only a few days ago because Yuzu and I don’t have enough chemistry.”

“Wait what,” Alina said in surprise setting the nail polish brush down on her bedside table. “You guys are both like two of the most charismatic skaters around at the moment and it’s not like you need to act that you are in love with him.”

“Alinka,” Zhenya scolded tossing a pillow at the younger skater who was sitting opposite. Alina easily dodged it and the pillow hit the wall with a dull thud. “You know that I’m mad at him at the moment.”

“Why are you mad at him anyway,” Alina picked up the brush and tipping it into the nail varnish begun to paint another layer on her nails.

Zhenya averted her eyes down towards the dress and stabbed he needle into the dress before yanking it out hard. She hadn’t had the heart to tell Alina the truth about why she had fallen out with Yuzu and instead had just brushed over the truth asking the other girls to keep it from Alina. “Yuzu just said some really horrible stuff to me and someone who would say something like that to me clearly can’t be my friend like he claimed to be.”

“He really wants you to forgive him you know that don’t you. He even asked me to see if I could put in a word,” Alina shrugged looking up from her wet nails. 

Zhenya jabbed her needle back into the dress and made another stich, “I know I just don’t feel as though I want to risk caring about him anymore. I let him get really close to me and all he did was hurt me.” She rubbed her eyes with her free hand to prevent the tears that she could tell were building up from falling onto the dress.

Alina waggled her fingers quickly as she tried to air-dry them quickly, “I’m sorry Zhenya I didn’t realise. Have you talked to him about it.”

“No. I might sound stupid but I don’t want to spend any more time around him than I need to. I’m not going to cause trouble over it with the duet or anything and we can still work together civilly but I don’t think it will ever be the same as before.” Zhenya said after a few moments pushing her needle through the fabric a few times to leave a row of neat stitches in the dress as she finished changing the neckline on the dress. 

Alina smiled sympathetically at Zhenya, “You know that I’m here for you though if you need me. You might have changed coaches but we are still friends.”

“Thanks,” Zhenya grinned appraising the dress and how it looked as she lay it on her bed as though she was about to wear it. “You’ll never guess what Nathan did yesterday.”

“What?” Alina asked folding her legs up onto her bed as she faced Zhenya.

Zhenya bit her lip winding her hands together as she tried to work out how to phrase it to Alina, “He kissed me.” 

“Shut up,” Alina explained reaching behind her and throwing the pillow back at Zhenya where it rebounded off her shoulder.

Zhenya laughed picking the pillow off of the floor and placing it at the head of her bed, “I’m not lying. I think he’s not friends with many girls and he said he was kind of confused by our friendship.”

“You guys are really close,” Alina conceded. “What happened though—do you like him.”

“I don’t know what I would have done without him recently,” Zhenya said thinking back to the past week. “But no I’m no more attracted to Nathan than I am to Moris or Lyosha. We talked afterwards and we are never going to be anything more than friends.” 

Alina sighed rolling her eyes, “Why are you getting all of the action on this tour.” Her tone was half serious and half in jest and Zhenya could see a glint in her eyes.

“Cause you are not even 16 Alinka and still a child,” Zhenya said smiling affectionately at the younger girl. She could remember when she had been a first-year senior and gone on the tour for her first time and had been the youngest there. “Besides it is not as though you like anyone on the tour.”

“No,” Alina said shaking her head firmly at Zhenya. “Anyways we can only have one ultra complicated love-life in this bedroom.”

“What would I do without you,” Zhenya said wistfully before picking up the dress she had laid on her bed. “So what do you think about my needlework?”

….

“Zhenya you’re early,” Yuzu said surprised from where he was standing on the ice. He hadn’t been expecting her another few minutes and he was still trying to work out how he was going to behave around her. 

Zhenya looked at him puzzled, “You are even earlier than I am.”

“I guess,” Yuzu agreed nervously. “Do you want to go then.”

Zhenya laughed, “I still need to put my skates on. Give me a second.” Yuzu couldn’t help but watch her as she tied her skates on trying to work out what it was about Zhenya that drew him to her. Coiling her hair up in a bun and fixing it in place with a hair tie she approached the ice and got on pushing on the ice slightly to generate speed. “Are you ready,” she teased and Yuzu gulped at the blinding white of her smile.

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed and he could feel his fingers were clammy as he turned the music on. Why was he suddenly so hyperaware of everything that was going on but he felt like now Javier had pressed a switch inside of him and all he could see was Zhenya. He turned his back on Zhenya thankful almost that he didn’t have to look at her as he could still see her kissing Nathan as he skated into his starting position.

The routine went well Yuzu though but he couldn’t remember it. He was too distracted by the feeling of Zhenya’s skin against his hands when he partnered her and the delicate scent of jasmine that he only now realised surrounded her. He felt torn between wanted to prolong every moment of contact and shared glance whilst also not wanting Zhenya to realise what was going on in his head. 

“Are you okay?” Zhenya called over the music as she skated in towards him as the music began to crescendo. “You seem distracted.”

Yuzu didn’t respond and instead he plunged himself into the music skating like a man possessed unwilling to surface and return to the reality where the world was bigger than the rink which was just the two of them. He locked eyes with Zhenya as she approached and pretended to rip the mask off his face.

She acted her revulsion of him well almost to well for Yuzu’s liking but as the choreography demanded Yuzu grabbed her hand and spun her around him. He could feel her pulse from where he clutched her wrist and the warmth of her skin and he was loath to let go as the music moved on. But he did and as the pair of them continued into the climax of the music when Zhenya collapsed into his arms and he bore her down onto the ground resting her head in her lap.

With her lying there within his grasp Yuzu could almost say that everything felt right for the first time since Javier had opened his eyes. But he heard a loud clapping permeating the ice rink which otherwise silent except for his and Zhenya’s slightly raggedy breathing.

Zhenya rolling off him pushed herself to her feet and skated towards where the clapping was coming from and from the little that he could see of Zhenya’s face she didn’t seem as affected by the routine as he was. Yuzu glanced upwards to see that the clapping was coming from Scott and Tessa who were both standing by the boards of the rink watching the pair of hem. He stood up and in a few quick strokes reached where the three of them were standing. 

“That was amazing,” he overhead Tessa say to Zhenya as he caught up with the Russian skater. “Yuzu you were on fire,” she said turning to address Yuzu and he couldn’t help but squirm under her attention hoping that she wouldn’t have been able to pick up on everything that he had been feeling. “I couldn’t help but believe in what you were skating. You captured the enigma and even the seduction element that Hades ought to have to lure Dido to her death.”

“Thanks,” Yuzu said self-consciously glad that she hadn’t understood everything that was going on in his head whilst he had been skating. “So is our routine not going to be pulled then?”

“If you guys can keep that chemistry and that connection then you guys are going to be the stars of the show,” Tessa said smiling almost as though she was a proud parent at the pair of them and fixed Yuzu with a look that made him certain that she had indeed seen through him completely.

We’ll catch you two later at dinner okay,” Scott said smiling at the pair of them warmly before turning with Tessa to leave. 

As the pair of them left the doors swinging shut behind him Zhenya seemingly couldn’t help but smile at their positive comments and Yuzu could feel the corners of his mouth tug upwards as they both stepped off the ice and started to remove their ice skates, “I think that’s the best comments we’ve ever got out them.”

“You are the one who sold the performance according to Tessa,” Zhenya said smiling at him and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel glad that she was smiling for him and not for anyone else. 

“Thanks,” Yuzu said after a few moments. He had been trying to think of something clever or witty to say but under Zhenya’s happy excited gaze he couldn’t help but be tongue-tied. 

Zhenya laughed at his response and Yuzu knew that he had said the wrong thing. He was rubbish at acting normal around Zhenya now and he wasn’t sure how he could go back to their easy camaraderie before he’d been stupid enough to develop feelings for her.

“Anyways,” she said breaking the awkward silence as she grabbed her phone out of her bag and checked her messages. “I need to meet Nathan now in the lounge—do you want to come with he’s always happy to see you.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but feel the feeling from before bubble up only now Yuzu could identify them as jealousy and he didn’t like the feeling. Yuzuru wasn’t supposed to be jealous—he could be admiring of other skaters technical content and abilities and aspire to do them but never jealous and least not before now. But he couldn’t deny the feeling that he felt upon seeing Nathan and Zhenya kissing and knowing they were hanging out any longer. “No,” he said finally realising that Zhenya was looking at him waiting for an answer. “I’m busy now anyway.”

“Sure,” Zhenya said tucking her last ice skate into her bag and shoving her phone in to join it. “I’ll see you round—you did really well today especially in that last bit.”

Yuzu nodded in acknowledgement of Zhenya’s praise but once she left he put the skates that he had just taken off back on his feet and quickly tied the laces. Ready and pressing the remote for the music that he still held in his pocket so that the speakers would play he made his way back onto the ice. He could still see the scratch marks left by him and Zhenya in their run through but he skated past those and instead chose an unmarked place to skate from and as the music started he began to skate.

He needed to sort his head out and get it around everything that seemed to be happening and the only place he could do that was far away from both Zhenya and Nathan on the ice.


	16. Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the 16th chapter of MYRJ ad I think it is my second longest but I'm not completely sure but it is very long and I will come back to edit it in the morning as especially by the end I was very tired. Thanks to the two people who sent in song recs as I love listening to the music that you recommended and I found it really interesting. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and see you tomorrow.

“You going to breakfast now,” Javier asked sidling up from behind somewhere behind Yuzu.

Yuzu looked at the other skater dubiously, “Yeah it’s like seven.” He wasn’t sure what was going on with Javier right now but the other skater clearly had something up his sleeve even if Yuzu didn’t know what it was right now. “Are you?”

“Well if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be going to have breakfast with you?” Javier grinned at Yuzu and Yuzu wasn’t quite sure when he had actually invited the other skater to have breakfast but he wasn’t going to turn Javier’s company down. 

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed after a few moments. “How are you?”

“I’m good mostly but I’m here to talk to you,” Javier said fixing Yuzu with a fierce look as they approached the dining room. “So have you done anything about your revelation in regards to Zhenya.”

Yuzu felt a frown cross his face at Javier’s question; he should have known that Javier wouldn’t let go with this. He had always had a habit of fixating on the smallest details and not letting them go and Javier would most certainly not consider this a small detail. “Not really.” 

“And by not really you mean no,” Javier pointed out pushing the door to the dining room open and holding it open for Yuzu to follow him through.

“Perhaps,” Yuzu acknowledged looking down unwilling to look at Javier in the eye knowing that he hadn’t spoken to Zhenya as Javi would have wanted him to do. “There wasn’t the right moment.”

Javi laughed grabbing a tray and starting to shovel baked beans onto a plate. “You are just a chicken Yuzu. You have to choose to make the moment instead of waiting for it to happen Yuzu.”

“I’m just looking at the long term Javi and assessing the situation and everything that is going on,” Yuzu said stubbornly as he started to fill a bowl with chocolate cereal. “Besides there’s no point engineering a moment that is unwanted on her side.”

“I still think that you need to stop overthinking things Yuzu—why don’t you just ask Zhenya to go with you to the event after the first show,” Javier suggested finishing off his breakfast by filling his glass with freshly squeezed orange juice.

Yuzu frowned slightly pouring milk into the bowl of cereal, “What event?”

“The black tie thing that’s being organized for the evening of the first show—Scott was telling me about it during our rehearsal. It’s going to be a big thing apparently and they are still planning how they are going to work it but there will definitely be the option to take a date and pair off as there are even numbers of us,” Javier pointed out as you waited for Yuzu to finish getting his breakfast ready.  
Yuzu frowned as he got himself some water to drink, “Since when was that a thing Javi. We didn’t have that last year.”

“I think Tessa’s trying to set up as many people as she can,” Javier joked but Yuzu couldn’t help but feel like there might be an element of truth to the situation. “Are you ready yet?”

“Sure,” Yuzu said rolling his eyes at Javier and picking up his tray followed the spainish skater. “Where do you want to sit?”

Javier seemingly locked eyes with someone who was standing behind Yuzu, “Over here.” Yuzu followed Javier not paying much attention and trying not to spill the milk onto his tray. Javier slide into a booth and Yuzu only now looking up realized that Zhenya, Alina and Gabby were already sharing the booth. Javier the manipulative person he was had sat next to Alina and Gabby meaning that Yuzu was forced to sit beside Zhenya. “Hey guys,” he said and Yuzu had a strong feeling that person he had locked eyes was Gabby based on her smile that was escaping the mug that hse was otherwise using to block out the lower half of her face. 

“Hey I didn’t realize that you guys would be at breakfast so soon,” Zhenya said on behalf of the three girls who were already sitting there.

“Nathan said he should be coming along in the next five to ten minutes if that is okay?” Gabby said piping up from where she was sitting next to Javier with her laughter finally under control.

Javier smiled warmly and Yuzu did his best to mimic it, “No problem at all.” Yuzu couldn’t help but disagree with Javier but instead he chose to bit his lip and remain silent. “How are you girls doing?”

“Good just majorly stressing out about the gala,” Gabby said amidst mouthfuls of food. “Our routine is never going to be ready at Tessa always seems to have so much going on and is never around.”

“That must be rough,” Javi agreed making the small talk for the group. “Our trio has been so much fun though especially as none of us take it overly seriously. How is your routine going Alina as I’m already aught up with all of the drama from Yuzu and Evgenia’s?”

 

Alina perked up lifting her head up from where it rested on the wall, “It’s really good I think. Satoko and I are getting along really well and she is a creative genius—both the routines and the costumes are from her.”

“That’s nice,” Javier agreed and Yuzu couldn’t help but zone out of the meaningless small talk that the older Spanish skater was so proficient in. 

His mind was utterly taken up in how whenever Zhenya sawed away at the strips of bacon that sat on her plates her bare skin would collide against his exposed forearms and the faint smell of jasmine that was coming from her hair as it fell down her vack loose for once. “Are you okay there,” Zhenya whispered leaning in so that Yuzu could hear her clearly.

Yuzu startled upon hearing her voice and the warmth of her brown gaze that was fixed on him. “Sure,” he agreed after a few moments unsure of what to say before realizing that it didn’t make sense considering her question. “I’m fine I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Tell me about it,” Zhenya replied conspiratorially. “I feel like my mind is so cluttered at the moment and I don’t know what to think most of the time.”

“You have no idea,” Yuzu said feeling Zhenya’s hair brush against his arm as she leaned in to address him. 

Zhenya laughed but he felt her gaze move past him towards a figure beyond him and Yuzu felt his stomach sink even before he glanced behind to see Nathan standing there illuminated by the light. “Hey Nathan,” Zhenya said grinning a the teenage boy who set his tray down loudly beside Yuzu’s at the end of the table.

“Hey,” Nathan said addressing the table. “Sorry I’m so late but Boyang kept me up all night and I overslept this morning.”

“No worries,” Gabby said as Nathan slide into the booth forcing Yuzu to bunch up closer to Zhenya. He’d endeavored to put as many inches as he could between the pair of them but now his legs and shoulder were resting against hers and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel like the contact was burning him.

Javier grinned easily and Yuzu wondered how he was so able to put other skaters at ease so effortlessly, “Nice to see you man though how are you doing.”

Nathan responded in some equally inane way and Javier returned to chatting mostly with Gabby whilst also trying to coax some conversation out of Alina who had already retreated into herself. It wasn’t that that annoyed Yuzu however but instead the conversation that was occurring between Zhenya and Nathan around him. 

The pair were chatting with each other but Yuzu sitting in the middle felt increasingly awkward He wasn’t expecting much from them but some acknowledgement from the pair of them might have been nice but clearly he was right in his presumption that based off of the kiss and their behavior around each other that something was going on. 

Zhenya body was pressed up against his side as she chatted with Nathan and despite the flavor of the food he was eating all he was aware of was her. He couldn’t make out her words though to Nathan and he was glad of that even as he felt her breath tickle the back of his neck. 

Yuzu instead dug his nails into the back of his hand unwilling to bend and acknowledge what else was going on around him and he stubbornly chewed down on the coco pops in his bowl. His bowl finally finished Yuzu looked up locking eyes with Javi who was sending him a very determined expression. Ripping his eyes away from Javi who was looking very unimpressed by him now he made his excuses and asked Nathan to move allowing him to get out.

Walking off holding his tray Yuzu heard Javier making his excuses to the remaining group of skaters before following Yuzu. “What was that,” the Spaniard complained. 

“I finished my breakfast,” Yuzu said coolly leaving the tray of the conveyor belt that took it to the kitchen. “So I didn’t want to hang around.”

Javier rolled his eyes as he dropped his tray onto the convery belt with a loud crash, “I’m not blind Yuzu and whilst it may help to be expressive on ice it makes you very readable on land you were jealous and awkward and felt unwanted.”

“That’s rubbish,” Yuzu said walking off at pace from Javi forcing the older skater to chase after Yuzu. “Anyway why do you actually care?”

Javier laughed from his position beside Yuzu, “Because I won’t be at TCC next season and I need to make sure that the pair of you are sorted out before I go back to Spain—I wouldn’t be able to trust you guys otherwise.”

“There’s nothing there from her Javi,” Yuzu said recalling how Zhenya had leant in so willingly to kiss Nathan and ran her hand along his cheek or even just how her face lit up upon seeing Nathan this morning.

Javier sighed and Yuzu couldn’t help but want him to leave him well enough alone. He had enough on his mind at the moment without Javier causing trouble and stirring stuff up which he had no right to, “Just ask her to the thing okay Yuzu—if she says no than I promise I won’t talk about it again.”

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed bitingly just wanting Javier to stop talking. “I’ll ask her later when she is alone.”

…

It took Yuzu longer than he had expected to pin down Zhenya for the chat he had promised Javier even though he knew it wouldn’t actually achieve anything. However, if it got Javi off of his back that Yuzu wasn’t going to be complaining. He finally succeeded however in getting Zhenya alone at the end of a group practice that afternoon. 

“Hey Zhenya,” he asked grabbing the attention of Zhenya whilst she started to file of the ice. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Zhenya said grinning charismatically at Yuzu and he couldn’t help but mimic it. “Just thinking through the choreo for the opening I’m still a little behind recently."

“I can always go over it with you if you want me to,” Yuzu offered. He didn’t know what he was offering as he was supposed to be avoiding Zhenya and letting his silly teenage crush run its course but he couldn’t turn down Zhenya and that sweet innocent face that she had. 

Zhenya smiled warmly at Yuzu and he couldn’t help but flush under her gaze, “That would be amazing if you could do that,” Her voice was ernest and sweat and she couldn’t help but believe that it was the best choice here.

“No worries, “ Yuzu said grinning approaching the exit of the rink so he could take off his own incredibly painful skates. “I was just wondering as well whether or not you want to go to the event after the show with me as well. It could be a tribute to Dido as we will have performed her earlier that day. It was lies mostly of course but as long as Zhenya didn’t notice immediately than it should be fine. 

“That’s such a good idea,” Zhenya said in response to Yuzu’s question and he felt something rise in his chest akin to hope. “The only problem is that Nathan asked me to go with him a couple of days ago and I said yes cause I didn't realize anyone else might ask me.”

Yuzu swallowed down hard. This friendship with Nathan was starting to kill him and he couldn’t help but want Zhenya to solely skate with him—he loved their duet. “No worries the Zhenya, “ he chirped brightly. “Promise to save me a dance once you are there.” 

Zhenya could help but let laughter escape, “I promise to save you as many as I can if you promise to turn up.

“I promise,” Yuzu agreed easily willing to join himself to Zhenya as he couldn’t get her off his mind as it was with images of her even present when he closed his eyes. Finally, the pair linked pinkies together and after others rubbing the thumb quickly as they promised each other silly niceties. “I’ll catch you later okay.”

“Sure,” Zhenya responded from her spot on the floor. “I’m sorry I’m busy with Nathan otherwise I would love to go with you.”

Yuzu dragged his nails against the back of his hand as he tried to focus on figure skating, “It's fine,” Yuzu agreed but inside he couldn’t help but feel as though everything was raw and hurting and he was mad at Javier for bringing the event up in the first place as he should have known that she would obviously be going with Nathan to the event. Now he would have to find someone else to go with and watch Zhenya and Nathan hang out the entire night. He could alraeady see the pair of them hanging off each other just like they had been at breakfast.

By the time Yuzu had finally looked up again, Zhenya had flitted ahead having removed her skates in record time leaving Yuzu behind on the ice, with beads of sweat from their training session prior to their talk still on his forehead and frozen in place


	17. We Don't Talk Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the 17th chapter of MYRJ and I tried to do some fluff between Yuzu and Zhenya but I'm not very good at it tbh angst comes a lot easier to me and the stakes are kinda getting raised for the pair of them and my baby Alina is getting in on the drama. Thanks as always to everyone who has read this story and I hope you enjoy.  
> VerityXxX

“What are you doing?” Yuzu said from the doorway to the living room. Javi had promised to meet him there but when he had arrived the only people there where Shoma who was asleep and Zhenya who was curled up on a sofa and bobbing her head along to the music that seemed to be playing through her headphones.

Zhenya sat up in response to his voice and glanced around a few times as though to ensure that he was addressing her. Finally, she pulled out one her headphones, “You talking to me.”

Yuzu laughed entering the room properly and walking towards where Zhenya sat, “Well considering Shoma is essentially unconscious at the moment yes.”

“Nothing really—just listening to music. I’m majorly obsessed with this song at the moment and it’s beautiful,” Zhenya said her eyes lighting up as she described the song sitting up in her seat.

Yuzu sat down on the sofa next to Zhenya careful to leave several crucial inches between the pair of them, “Who is it by?”

“Well the song is originally by two American signers but my favourite version is a cover by two members from BTS as they massively elevate the song” Zhenya enthused and Yuzu couldn’t help but smile at how animated she was when it came to talking about the song.

“KPop,” Yuzu said referencing to Zhenya’s preferred genre of music that she seemed obsessed with most of the time.

Zhenya grinned back at him, “Do I ever listen to anything else?”

“So it is the song good then?” Yuzu asked trying to force Zhenya to elaborate more on her statement, as he loved seeing her act so animated.

Zhenya rolled her eyes at him and Yuzu was glad that she was acting more casual with him, “Take a headphone and listen to it yourself.” The dark haired girl passed him a headphone and Yuzu pressed it into his ear.

He could hear the instrumentals play through his ear and the breathy vocals from the two singers and Zhenya pressing herself up against his side removing the few inches that had separated him to ensure that she could listen to music through the remaining headphone, “Are they going to get started properly yet.” He joked referencing to the long introduction. 

“Shut up,” Zhenya said elbowing him in the stomach. “If you keep on talking than you won’t hear the music properly.”

Yuzu smiled at her comment before miming that he was zipping his mouth shut to show how he was going to be silent. Once the song got into itself however and the simplistic enough chorus blended into the verse that was sung by one of the two voices he found himself rather enjoying it even though it wasn’t exactly his style.

The lyrics themselves carried a bittersweet edge to them and Yuzu couldn’t help but find parallels between his situation with Zhenya and what they were singing as they seemed to be questioning how a relationship had failed and where it had all gone wrong. By the time the two voices came in and they were singing in harmony together Yuzu could tell why Zhenya liked the song even though it was far more melancholic that the music that she normally listened to and Yuzu couldn’t help but wonder whether there was a reason for that. 

When the song finally came to an end Zhenya yanked the headphone out of Yuzu’s ear with a pop, “What do you think about it then.”

“It’s really pretty,” Yuzu agreed the song playing over again in his ears. “You should skate to that sometime”

Zhenya gave a half laugh, “Eteri would never have let me skate to that but that’s not a problem anymore.”

“See there are advantages to leaving,” Yuzu pointed out cheerfully knowing that Zhenya had struggled a lot with her decision to move from Eteri to Orser. “Other than my company obviously,” he teased trying to recall how he would banter with Zhenya before the tour as he didn’t want to act out of character anymore but the words sounded crash to his eyes. 

“I’ll have you know I’m moving for Gabby’s company. She’s already promised to take me on a tour of the entirety of Toronto when I arrive,” Zhenya pointed out but she was grinning and Yuzu was glad that he had said the right thing. “Apparently you are not one for the social circle of figure skaters within Toronto.”

Yuzu laughed remembering Gabby berating him frequently throughout the season to go out with her and Javier, “That sounds like something she’d say but when you come I can show you around my favourite haunts if you would like that.”

“That’d be cool if it wasn’t too much of a bother for you,” Zhenya said after a few moments of consideration and Yuzu could feel her thoughtful gaze on him but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking about. “I’m terrified about the move and whether or not I will be able to settle in well and if it will even be worth it.”

Yuzu looked at Zhenya and where she sat so close to him that he could feel the warmth from her body, appraising the girl, “You’ll be fine I promise. You’re an amazing skater and Brian wouldn’t have taken you if he didn’t think that you had the potential to improve from where you are already. Besides, you are the hardest worker I know and are willing to completely dedicate yourself so that you achieve your wishes. You are moving thousands of miles away from home and there’s no one I think who would be able to do it better than you will.” The words came easily to him and he had to cut himself before he enthused about her favourable qualities for too long as that would be far too obvious. 

Zhenya smiled at him for a bit before her face fell and she shifted away from him slightly edging towards the end of the sofa, “The hardest worker.”

Yuzu frowned realizing what she was quoting back at him and he cursed himself again for saying all of that stuff to her only a few days ago. In hindsight, he registered that her hanging out with Nathan had angered him but he could still feel all that bottled up rage within himself. 

“I’m so sorry Zhenya you know that—I’ll do anything,” Yuzu said. He would do anything to be friends with Zhenya the same way it had been before the tour and be able to redo it. Maybe he would have been able to stop her becoming friends with Yuzu or made another decision that night on the balcony because Yuzu could pinpoint the decline in their friendship to that first night. 

Zhenya looked at him the added distance allowing her to meet his eye and stare him down and she hesitated for a few seconds before he saw a light go on in his eye. “Who are you going to the event the day after our first show with.”

“No one at the moment,” Yuzu said confused. He had asked Zhenya to the event or whatever it only a days earlier and she had turned him down in favour of attending with Nathan who had already asked her so this entire question felt as though she was rubbing salt in the wound inadvertently. 

“Could you invite Alina to go with you,” Zhenya asked tentatively. “I know it is a lot to ask but she really idolizes you and I don’t want her to feel left out about the event as she doesn’t know the skaters as well as I do. I would have asked Nathan but..” she trailed off by the end of the sentence unwilling to complete her pattern of thought.

That comment hurt and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel angered but he merely nodded Alina was a sweet enough girl and if it would get him back into Zhenya’s good books he would do almost anything. “No problem,” he agreed.

“Thank you so much,” Zhenya said wrapping Yuzu in a one-armed hug for a few seconds before pulling away. “Don’t tell her that I asked you to invite her though—she’s too proud for that.”

Yuzu held back the blush that he could feel spreading across his cheek from Zhenya’s touch and he wasn’t sure how he had survived contact with her before. “I won’t,” he promised glibly. 

“I’ll catch you later then,” Zhenya said pushing her headphones back into her ears and standing up unfurling her limbs. She rested one hand on his shoulder for a brief second as though to say goodbye to him and Yuzu felt the warmth burning through his clothes into her skin and he didn’t want her to move her hand. Eventually, however, she did let go and pushing the door open left leaving Yuzu with only the snoring Shoma for company.  
…

“What is it Yuzu,” Alina asked in her soft voice and Yuzu looked down. He had gone looking for Alina as soon as Zhenya had left him but once he had found her he had merely settled for waiting for her to finish eating a snack before approaching. “You were watching me whilst I ate.”

Yuzu wrung his hands together conscious of his sweaty palms, “I was wondering whether or not you wanted to go the gala after our first show with me.” His voice sounded awkward to him but he had promised Zhenya he would ask her so he wouldn't allow himself to back out.

Alina looked at him slightly perplexed, “Sure-I’d have thought that you would have asked Zhen—someone else but it’s not as though anyone else has asked me.”

Yuzu caught her hastily concealed cover-up in her phrasing and couldn’t help but smile at Alina’s innocence and her willingness to protect her friend. “So you are down to go with me?” He asked just checking, as he didn’t want to cause any confusion at a later date especially considering that he was doing this for Zhenya.

“Yeah.” Alina agreed and Yuzu turned to leave. “Did Zhenya ask you to ask me or are you doing this to get in her favour.”

Yuzu turned back frantically trying to think of something to say which would allow him not to break his word to Zhenya whilst still answering Alina’s question. “Neither,” he said unconvinced by his own words.

“If you are doing this for Zhenya you are going to have to try a lot harder,” Alina said looking unimpressed by Yuzu’s actions. “You really hurt her and it’s going to take more than one favour to make up.”

Yuzu squinted at her confused, “Did Zhenya tell you what I said?” He hadn’t expected her or any of the other girls to tell Alina because his words directly involved her. 

“No,” Alina said shaking her head. “But I understood enough to know that she lost her trust in you and she’s scared of letting you in again because she thinks you are going to hurt her.”

“I would never do that,” Yuzu retorted trying to hit back at Alina knowing that his words were stupid considering everything that had happened.

Alina smiled at that at Yuzu blinked confused at her, “You already did. She still cares about you though and she doesn’t want to let go of your friendship but she will prioritise herself.” 

“Thanks Alina,” Yuzu said struck by the young girl’s solemnity and the gravitas that surrounded her.

“No problem,” Alina agreed. “But you better take me to the gala for all of my help, Her tone was light but her eyes exacting and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel somehow slightly judged. 

“It’d be my honour,” Yuzu said mock-bowing towards the younger skater and she responded with a shallow curtsey before the pair dissolved into laughter. “I’ll see you around then.”

“Sure,” Alina said her eyes fixed on Yuzu as he turned to leave. But his thoughts weren’t on the younger girl but rather on the information that she had just told him and in planning what he would do about it as he hadn't realised how badly he had lost Zhenya's trust.  
.


	18. Dress Rehearsal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter of MYRJ and I hope that everyone enjoys it. There is some fluff between Yuzu and Zhenya as I am trying to fit it into the chapter as I want to keep this story quite light-hearted. 
> 
> I also just want to put in a small apology about the song that I ended up having Yuzu skate to because 'let it go' by James Bay was initially put forwards but I remembered it as being 'let her go' the passenger song probably because of the fact that I'm slightly dyslexic and by the time I had realised I had already envisioned the program in my head so I didn't end up changing it and I just wanted to say I'm sorry as I did try really hard to use it. 
> 
> I wrote this while watching the latest faoi broadcast this morning which was amazing as I love Zhenya's Experience program which I've seen before but she was jumping triple-triple combos even though she felt. Her Memory program was amazing though as I'm a massive ALW fan and if her self-choreographed programs are this good then I'm so pumped for her actual programs as I especially love her music choices. There did seem to be some tension between Yuzu and Zhenya though because when Misha tried to get them to take a photo Zhenya seemed to very deliberately avoid standing next to Yuzu and instead stood next to Misha but I feel like it is probably because of some of the obsessive fanyu's as there is lots of beef going on Misha's Instagram. 
> 
> Anyways thanks as always to my awesome readers and I just was to stress that this is completely fictional and I hope that you all enjoy.

The music came on louder than Zhenya was used to through the speakers and she pushed off following the other skaters. It was darker than she was used to with flashing spotlights that lit them up and she could feel costume she had been assigned itching under her arms. They were doing a dress rehearsal for the show in two days and it was their first time running through the entire show with no breaks in full costume and all of the lighting and music, as it would be on the night. 

She loved the music that Tessa had chosen for the group and once it started and she could fill it filling her up as she followed the other skaters through the movements copying their actions. Tessa had chosen a song from the latest Imagine Dragons album and it had heavy beats, which their routine had been choreographed, to highlight making their already in sync actions look more professional. 

As she watched the other skaters go forwards and show off their best tricks with Alina performing her lutz-loop combo and Tessa and Scott choosing to show one of their most impressive lifts. By the time it came to her and she could feel the spotlight come to her Zhenya felt self-conscious for she merely performed her I-spin but at least there was no audience here to see her yet. Nathan whispered something to her as she skating past him as he entered the spotlight before performing a quad combination but Zhenya wasn’t able to catch his words so she merely returned to her spot to perform her assigned choreography.

The song ended before Zhenya realised it and she was following the other skaters off finding herself by Yuzu as she exited the ice. “How are you,” Yuzu said to her his voice just over the quieting music. 

“I’m okay—your jump in the opening looked really good,” Zhenya whispered the music having already ended by this point and the rink had dropped into darkness as they put their guards on and got off the ice.

Yuzu grinned as he slid the guards on before straightening up to look at Zhenya, “Thanks. I’ll catch you later okay I need to change into my solo exhibition costume.”

“No worries,” Zhenya agreed realising now that other than her duet, which was the last of the small groups in the featured position, she only had two routines left to do. Normally the dress rehearsal was tiring as they didn’t have the audience to support them and push them forwards but Zhenya was energetic and wanted to get onto the ice and continue skating. She watched Yuzu as he turned a corner his black costume blending into the darkness around the edge of the rinks. 

Turning around after a few moments looking for someone that she had recognised but they had all run off to change into their costumes for their solo exhibition program. As Zhenya wasn’t performing till the next full group routine she merely pulled on a hoodie that she had left by the side and settled herself down by the rink to watch some of the programs.  
…

Yuzu hung out backstage trying to avoid Zhenya knowing that she would be hanging out by the side of the rink to watch the programs. It had taken him a few minutes to pull on his costume, which was sufficiently indulgent for his taste but plain enough that it wouldn’t matter that he had changed the music. It had been an impulse decision of his but he had been running through his program countless times whilst he had been trying to sort out what was going through his head in regards to Zhenya. The new music fitted his changed mindset far better now but it wasn’t what he was used to and Tessa had given him a dirty look when he had spoken to her to change the music. 

The attitude was far more relaxed than it would be on the actual performance and he could hear raucous laughter coming from the stage and he presumed that something had gone wrong with Tessa and Scott’s routine. As gold medallists from the Olympics and the unofficial leaders of the group of skaters, they had been tasked with skating first whilst Yuzu had been given the last spot before the group routine and short programs.

“Hey Yuzu,” Boyang said grabbing the Japanese skaters arm. “Do you know when I’m on?”

Yuzu looked at the younger skater for a second trying to think back to the set list that Tessa had emailed around, “I think you are after Alina—why aren’t you in your costume yet.” The young Chinese skater had changed out of the group routine costume and into dark training clothes. 

“It doesn’t fit properly,” Boyang said pouting. “I’ve been eating too much in the run-up to the tour.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but laugh thinking about Boyang’s slight skinny frame and his tight spiderman costume, “What are you going to do for the show?”

“Dunno. I’ll probably just have to stretch it,” Boyang said shrugging and Yuzu didn’t understand why he wasn’t more worried about the situation but Boyang did seem to be laid back most of the time. “See you—Alina just went on so I’ll be up next.”

Yuzu couldn’t hide the smile upon his face as he watched the younger Chinese skater run along towards the stage—it would be weird having him around more frequently when he was also training at TCC. 

Turning to the side Yuzu settled himself into a chair listening to the slight hubbub going on around him. The dress rehearsal would always run long as there would be frequently mistakes and sometimes they would want to change the lighting or even staging so that they could be seen better from wherever the audience sat. 

He counted down the athletes who had to go yet because he didn’t want to be late in his head waiting for his turn but he couldn’t help but notice that Nathan having already performed and changed into his costume for the group routine that would be directly after Yuzu’s solo had disappeared towards the rink where Yuzu last remembered seeing Zhenya. It was impossible for Yuzu to be sure without seeing them together he was almost certain that they would be together by the ice watching the programs. 

It was so stupid for him to be bothered about it and he knew it. It might have been different if he had ever been brave enough to confront Zhenya about his feelings so how was she expected to read his mind and know everything that he was thinking about, as she seemed to be on his mind all the time. Either he was going over his encounters with her in the past and regretting the quippy one-liners that he had thought were funny but it hindsight seemed lame or inventing silly fantastical scenarios in which he was brave or stupid enough to tell her and she was crazy enough to return his feelings. Regardless it was a waste of time but he couldn’t get the sound of her laugh or the smell of jasmine that surrounded her out of his head. 

“Yuzu you are on now,” Javier called from somewhere behind himself and Yuzu shaking himself out of his toxic thoughts which weren’t getting him anywhere rose to his feet.

The rink was surprisingly quiet even as the music started and it was almost disorientating how empty the stands were with only the first row being occupied by some of the other skaters. Striking his starting position Yuzu closed his eyes listening to the music before flowing fluidly into the first position. He had originally had instrumental music but he preferred the new lyrical song that he had chosen because it summed up his relationship with Zhenya except the fact that unlike the lead singer he wasn’t able to just ‘let her go’. 

Yuzu liked the silence though as it allowed him to focus on his movements and the choreography as well as creating the feeling that he had planned for as the song continued and it entered the chorus which was the entire reason for him choosing the program. His first two jumps went well with him performing his triple axel and triple flip cleanly before spinning himself around faster and faster to fit the spiralling music but regardless of how fast he spun his thoughts raced even faster. 

It was only when he was exiting the spin and the spotlight flashed across the stadium that he seen them. Zhenya leaning forwards her chin resting upon her fists as she watched seemingly engrossed and Nathan by her side whispering something into her ear. 

He was moving onto the next steps his feet taking over before his mind fully was able to comprehend everything that had happened but he couldn’t help but remember the pair of them together in the stands and they seemed to consume his mind totally. Still off, he spun round in his entry to his quad toe-loop flinging himself into the air with reckless abandon. But he couldn’t focus on the ice or even spinning just the expression on Zhenya’s face as she had watched him and he felt the ice spinning beneath his skaters and he slipped and his head went crashing down into the ice hard. 

…

Everything was blurry above him when he finally opened his eyes but a face swum into his view. It was Zhenya’s and in his slightly delirious concussed state he heard himself murmur that she was beautiful. The girl blushed prettily and Yuzu realised that whilst his lower half was lying on the ice she was resting his head against her thigh. “What happened?” he asked confused about how he had ended up n the ground in the first place.

“You fell really badly—Tessa had to call off the rehearsal because you didn’t seem to be recovering—I—We were terrified,” Zhenya said her voice adopting a calm reassured tone but Yuzu could tell that she was still majorly stressed out. “How’s your head doing?”

Yuzu sat in silence for a moment trying to take in his situation and work out where the throbbing pain in his head was coming from, “It’s kinda bad.”

Zhenya looked around meeting eyes with someone that Yuzu couldn’t see, “We need to get you off the ice okay.” Her voice was placid and it annoyed Yuzu to hear her talking down to him as though he was a child. “I think that you are going into shock.”

“I’m not in shock. I want to stay here,” Yuzu responded his head foggy as he tried to pull sentences together unsuccessfully. He didn’t want to get off the ice though he was thoroughly content to sit on the ice in Zhenya’s company for the rest of the night.

Zhenya laughed at his comment before looking book at the figure who he knew was standing just out of Yuzu’s sight and Yuzu saw a pair of arms coming out of nowhere to pull him up into standing position. He blinked a couple times as though to wake himself up again and clear his sight and by the time his vision refocused he recognised the owner of the arms to be Nathan. 

Yuzu turned around craning his head to see if he would be able to see Zhenya but the Russian figure skater had seemingly disappeared. He couldn’t help but question whether she had been a hallucination or not conjured up from his concussed and tired brain but she had felt and sounded so real to him.

…

The second Nathan had taken Yuzu’s weight from her Zhenya had run from the ice blending into the small crowd that had assembled and yanked her skates off as soon as she could leaving her feet bare. Keeping her feet light she ducked quickly into the changing room and out of anyone's sight before settling herself down on the benches with a sigh.

She hadn’t known how to react when she had seen Yuzu go down on the ice but she had found herself running forwards out of the stands where she had been sitting with Nathan watching the routine. It had been a stunning routine for him and Zhenya could tell that he had connected with the lyrical music however by the time that he had exited his layback spin Zhenya could tell something was on his mind. It didn’t make her any less surprised to see Yuzu fall so badly though.

He hadn’t moved whilst he rested on the ice and as Zhenya had gotten closer she could see how he must have fallen as hurt himself and she could tell it was a serious fall. Part of her knew that her actions were not rational and belied the fact that she didn’t care about him but the larger part crushed her niggling doubts and as she yanked her guards off her skates so she could skate over to where Yuzu’s body was lying. 

His body had been cold when she had reached him and knowing that she couldn’t drag him across the ice by herself and that the other skaters were coming to help she instead had opted to rest his head and shoulder against her thigh lifting him off the ice. His hair had ticked her skin but it was when he had opened his eyes with them blurry and dark that Zhenya finally allowed herself to exhale. 

His comments were as inane as one might expect but she had found herself blushing at a compliment. Maybe that’s why she had thrown Yuzu away from herself as soon as she could casting him towards Nathan and left him behind. She had caught him glancing back at her however only to not be able to spot Zhenya amongst the crowd and she had felt a sense of relief at being able to avoid his gaze. 

Zhenya shook her head and pushed herself to her feet confident that Yuzu had probably been taken past her now, as she was able to predict that he would have been laid down somewhere so he could sleep off the concussion. Zhenya cursed within her head at her own thought process and the way she was obsessing about encountering Yuzu again. She didn’t care about Yuzu anymore—she was just in shock as a result of Yuzu’s fall which was why she was thinking about all of this again.


	19. Fittings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is chapter 19 and whilst I'm not entirely happy with it it is quite important as it set up the stage for the drama that is coming up in the next few chapters and I think you guys will like the end. I tried to add in more of their thought processes throughout this chapter so I hope you like it as I'm not 100% certain about it. Thanks as always to everyone who has read this story and I hope you enjoy <3<3  
> VerityXxX

Zhenya flicked through the rack of dresses hearing the fabric collide against each other with a soft rustling sound. Tessa had sent them out to the mall after Gabby and Kaetlyn had complained about not having anything to wear to the gala, which Tessa was making into a bigger thing than it was most years with her making it compulsory for everyone to pair off with each other as they added to an even number. 

Zhenya paused for a second to examine a dress in a vibrant turquoise that drew her eyes before flicking past it. Part of her didn’t even want to go to the silly gala and she couldn’t imagine it especially considering the fact that she had recommended Yuzu to go with Alina. It was going to be weird to see the pair of them together but Nathan had asked her immediately as he wasn’t really friends with any of the other girls and he had been a massive source of support to her so Zhenya wouldn’t ever even consider turning him down. 

“What do you think about this dress?” Alina asked addressing Zhenya and showing her a dark green dress. Zhenya glanced back towards Alina and nodded absently her thoughts still devoted to addressing everything that was on her mind. “Zhenya what are you thinking about?” she asked again walking towards Zhenya holding the green dress by the rack.

Zhenya gazed at Alina unfocused, “It’s a nice dress—it will suit your colouring.”

“What’s on your mind because you don’t seem yourself,” Alina asked concerned.

Zhenya paused as she tried to work out how to put into words the confused turmoil of thoughts and emotions that were filling her head. “I dunno nothing in my head seems to make sense recently—it all seemed so straightforward only a few days ago.”

“Is it okay that I’m going with Yuzu to the gala—I wouldn’t have approached him but he asked me,” Alina said her words coming easily to her in contrast to Zhenya’s. She paused looking uncertain; “I think he’s doing this for you?”

Flicking through the dresses again Zhenya tore her eyes away from Alina self-conscious, “I know—I might have asked him to.”

“Wait what?” Alina asked confused. “Why would you do that?”

“He asked me to go with him but I had already said yes to going with Nathan so instead I asked him to invite you,” Zhenya explained her voice trailing off by the end of her sentence realising how flawed her logic had been. “I’m sorry but I just felt so guilty about the entirety of the situation and I knew that no one had invited you yet so I thought it would be a win-win situation.”

Alina frowned slightly before letting a smile cross her face, “You don’t need to feel guilty—I knew all along that he had a reason for inviting me and I was almost certain that it would be related to you.”

Zhenya paused winding her fingers into the silky fabric of one of the dresses hanging from the rack, “Am I a bad person for using Yuzu like that.”

“What for asking him to invite me to the gala,” Alina questioned and when Zhenya heard the younger girl say it out loud she realised how bad it sounded. “Don’t worry about it. He wanted to ask me to go with him if it would get him back in your good books and nothing more. He really regrets whatever he said to you I think.”

That was the problem though. If Yuzu hadn’t been trying to hard to get her to forgive him and if part of her didn’t want to forgive him that this entire thing would be so much easier but Zhenya could feel her resolve to keep him as far away as possible crumbling faster every time she learnt something. “You sure?”

“Certain,” Alina agreed soothing Zhenya’s fears. “So what do you think about the green dress,” she asked gesturing towards the forgotten garment that she held in her left hand. 

Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh at how Alina changed the subject so deftly towards the green dress, “I like it but you need to try it on and get someone else opinion—Kaetlyn was in the changing rooms last time I saw her.”

“Thanks,” Alina said relieved. “I’ll catch you later than—don’t beat yourself up for your action Zhenchka you were just trying to help and fix the problems.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed turning to watch Alina walk away the skirt of the dress brushing against the ground. 

She turned back to the stupid rack of dresses unable to make a decision. They were all pretty but none of them was right but Zhenya didn’t seem to know what was right anymore considering that her actions didn’t make sense to herself. She had always prided herself on doing the right thing but Zhenya didn’t know what that meant she ought to do as the right thing would be to let Yuzu go completely but she couldn’t seem to do that how hard she tried.

Zhenya had thought she had succeeded in forgetting about him but when she had seen him fall everything had come rushing back to her leaving her all the more confused. She was supposed to be a strong role model to the younger skaters and everyone who followed her but at the moment Zhenya just felt like the naive teenager she was due to how she had devoted herself to the ice when she was only a child.

Finally grabbing three dresses in different hues of the rainbow sighing Zhenya hurried to the dressing room to try them on. She just needed to choose a dress it’s not as though it matters or she was dressing up for anyone. Brushing past Gabby who was engaged in a fierce whispered conversation with Wakaba who looked less than impressed by the entire shopping experience and the dark dress that was ornate with shining stones that Gabby was holding outstretched towards her.   
Ignoring them and entering the last of the changing rooms Zhenya started to change into the first dress on her pile a dark blue number. She glanced in the mirror to see that it fit her nicely but it was almost too pretty for Zhenya and didn’t reflect who she felt like she was rendering her into merely a pretty girl in a pretty dress. She pulled it off carefully in order to ensure that she did not rip the fragile lace that adorned the dress before setting it down.

She had scarcely pulled the deep wine red dress on before Zhenya found herself clawing at it to get it off. The dress whilst in one of her favourite colours was so similar to her Anna Karenina dress from the Olympics that Zhenya couldn’t help but need to take it off. As she looked at herself in the mirror with her hair braided back out of her face Zhenya couldn’t help but reject the image before her. She had moved forwards from that girl with all the decisions that she had made lately and they had been hard but that had changed her. She ripped the dress off after a few moments and cast it to the ground before turning to the final dark purple dress. 

Having pulled the dress up and pushed her arms through the narrow sleeves Zhenya craned her arm in order to fiddle with the zip and yanked it up until it was a few centimetres short from the top. Pushing the door open Zhenya looked around for a familiar face before spotting Kaetlyn at the entrance to the dressing room in a stunning black and white ensemble, ”Can you help me do up my zip.”

Kaetlyn glanced back at Zhenya before walking over to meet her, “Sure no problem.” Her fingers were cold and tickled at Zhenya’s back and before she knew it the dress was sitting on her lean figure perfectly. It was slightly too long and it trailed on the ground around her. It cinched in perfectly around her waist before it fell onto the ground highlighting her slight curves.

Kaetlyn stepped back as though to appraise Zhenya, “You look knock-out.”

The purple set off her pale skin and her dark eyes spectacularly well and whilst it was pretty it didn’t hide who she was or have negative memories tied to like the second dress had. “Thanks,” Zhenya said colouring slightly in response to Kaetlyn’s compliment. 

“It’s no problem,” Kaetlyn said smiling at Zhenya.

Zhenya heard a ping sound come from the pile of clothes that she had removed so quickly. “I’m going to change back into my own clothes before I stain this dress or rip it, “ she said making her excuses for leaving to go to check her phone. Kaetlyn laughed before turning around to see if she could spot any other skaters and walking off into the shopping centre

She headed to her changing room and extracting her phone she saw that Nathan had texted her asking about how she was getting on and if there was a set colour she wanted him to have. Snapping a quick shot of her reflection in the mirror Zhenya sent it to him waiting for the vibration that signified the message going through. Her phone having vibrated Zhenya set it down as she started to change back into her regular clothes 

…

Yuzu heard a snigger from Nathan who was sitting on the sofa next to Shoma on the sofa. “What is it?” Shoma whispered towards Nathan and Yuzu kept his ears pricked pulling his headphones out of his ear to see what he could overhear whilst burying his head lower into the book and sliding down into his armchair to hid from their sight. 

“It’s just Zhenya—she sent me a photo from dress fitting apparently I’m going to need to get hold of a purple tie as she wants us to match,” Nathan muttered back and Yuzu did her best not to glance backwards towards the pair of them and where they were sitting on the sofa. At the sound of Zhenya’s name, Yuzu felt his breath hitch slightly and his slight curiosity was piqued. 

He heard Shoma laugh from behind him making a joke about Nathan and Zhenya being a power couple and Yuzu felt his fists clench inside his team japan coat pockets. 

“It’s nothing like that Shoma,” Nathan chided his voice warm yet strict and Yuzu was confused now. What was Nathan getting at to Shoma by saying him and Zhenya were nothing like a power couple. “Zhenya and I are only ever going to be friends.”

Shoma whispered something back to Nathan but Yuzu couldn’t hear it at the sound of the blood pumping his brain as he tried to work out everything that Nathan had just said. 

If he and Zhenya weren’t dating like he had thought they were it meant that the kiss that Yuzu had seen between Nathan and Zhenya meant nothing to the pair of them. Yuzu felt a huge load of his mind as he found himself going through every interaction between the pair of them from Zhenya hanging out with Nathan or watching movies and eating together for romantic subtext but with his calmer more in control mind that was now informed by this conversation he’d overheard from Nathan he could see how it could just be an incredibly close friendship. That in turn, would make sense for Nathan to be protective over Zhenya but instead of it being because they were dating it was because they were almost like siblings. 

Yuzu couldn’t help but feel incredibly stupid for not clocking onto this earlier and part of him couldn’t help but feel excited that it left the way open for him to talk to Zhenya as now he wouldn’t have to step onto Nathan’s toes as Yuzu couldn’t help but respect the younger American skater for his strength of character. As Yuzu thought through the situation Yuzu felt a sneeze building up and whilst he tried to hold the sneeze back he couldn’t help but let it explode out of his nose creating a noise that echoed around the room. “Whose there,” Nathan asked slightly confused. 

Yuzu stayed silent for a moment before pushing himself to his feet and ducking around the back of the armchair, “It is just me.”

Nathan frowned at Yuzu tilting his head slightly to the side seemingly in thought and Yuzu felt as though he could see the cogs turning within Nathan’s mind, “How long were you hear for.”

“I was here before you arrived and was just reading my book and listening to music,” Yuzu said shrugging as he picked up his phone and book that he had cast down. He wasn’t technically lying as he had been doing both before they had entered and been more interesting. “Why?”

“No reason,” Nathan said sitting himself down on the sofa next to Shoma who hadn’t stood up in the first position. He whispered something towards Shoma who held back a small laugh. 

Yuzu feeling isolated from where he stood by Nathan and Shoma tucked his book and phone under his arm and left the room his thoughts all on Zhenya and the consequences of his new discovery.


	20. The First Show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter and this is about the show with the gala coming tomorrow though I think that will probably be split into two. I hope you like this chapter and I won't go into more detail than this in regards to these performances during the shows again so you don't need to reread the same descriptions. I hope everyone enjoys this and these two being happy together and I will see you all tomorrow.

Yuzu could feel the crowd buzzing around the ice rink and he felt the adrenaline start to pulse through his body in response to them and he couldn’t wait to get back onto the ice to perform. Finally stepping onto the ice with the lights dimmed so that the audience wouldn’t notice them moving into his starting positions and Yuzu could distantly hear the commentator announcing the show. The intro to the song began and Yuzu could almost fool himself that he could feel the ice beneath him vibrating. The flashing blue lights started to level up and the different skaters in the formation were lit up: Yuzu’s attention being caught by Zhenya illuminated in the blue light from where she stood. 

He shook his head to focus himself and as the first beat came in pushed himself into movement following the other skaters as they carried out the steps. He liked the music and how it built throughout the performances and whoever had designed the lighting had done a masterful job. The entire group spun together in unison hitting the downbeat before peeling off the sides to allow the individual skaters to come forewards and show off their skills. Yuzu knowing that he would be last as always stood to the side in the dark watching. 

To his side, he could see Alina whose eyes were gleaming in the blue light and Yuzu had almost forgotten that this would be her first tour and whilst she had performed in galas before it wouldn’t have been anything like this. “You cool,” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Alina whispered back. “There’s just so much going on.” She was right and Yuzu could hear the cheers from the audience as Gabby jumped her massive triple toe-triple toe combination. 

“You’ll kill it,” Yuzu reassured and Alina smiled at him gratefully before turning back to the ice where Boyang had quickly replaced Gabby. Tessa had timed the entire performance to perfection so that every movement would be accentuated by the music drawing more attention to everything that they did. He couldn’t remember his first tour as it seemed to be another lifetime ago before his two gold medals at the Olympics and his leg but she was even younger than he had been even then. 

The skaters started to blur together with each skater skating forwards to perform their signature movement. Alina was skating forwards from his side before he realised it to perform her lutz-loop combination then it was Nathan and Tessa and Scott and the cheering form the crowds grew louder as the atmosphere built. Finally, Zhenya skated out of the shadows to perform a spin and Yuzu could see a grin on her face as she enjoyed performing for the crowd as much as he did. 

Zhenya had scarcely returned to her position before Yuzu was skating out to take the stage. He could hear the people in the stands whooping in response to his presence and Yuzu could help but let a smile cross his face in response to their attention. He took a few steps to either side before quickly turning into a triple axel from the back counter to the screams of the fans before performing a layback spin his speed increasing to match the crescendo of the music. Whilst he had been spinning the other skaters moved forwards to join him in their formation and the group skated together to the climax of the song. Once the song finally finished, the lights all turned off in one moment and Yuzu could hear the crowd explode whilst all of the skaters left the rink. 

…

The performances of all of the skaters were beautiful and Zhenya watched them dressed in her costume for the duet anxious hoping that no one would make any mistakes throughout their programs. She couldn’t help but feel nervous, however, by the time that Yuzu finally emerged as all that she could remember was his horrific fall during the dress rehearsal. However, he skated his program clean and stunningly and his expressions completely embodied the music with Zhenya wondering what he was drawing on as he skated his program that based off of the music seemed to orientate around a relationship. 

Whilst his programs were always immersed in his music and intrinsically linked together this exhibition was raw and he captured the bittersweet air of the romance perfectly. When he struck his final poise Zhenya could hear the shrill cries of the crowd from her position off stage and the whoops from some of the other skaters who were watching from the sidelines with her and she couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiastic atmosphere from backstage with all of the encouragement from the other skaters. 

Instead of Yuzu skating off the stage however and the next skater going on to perform their exhibition the other 13 odd skaters, Zhenya included, joined him on the ice. Tessa had decided to hold a question and answer session with all the skaters that would be translated into Japanese with all of them and she had received the questions from the members of the audience throughout the first half of the show that she had chosen to place into a hat. 

“So our first question of the show is for our boy Yuzuru here and asks him about who is his favourite person to hang out with during the tour,” Tessa announced speaking into a microphone, which she then handed to Yuzu.

Yuzu smiled self-consciously as he cleared his throat into the microphone and Zhenya couldn’t help but listen intrigued to find out what his response would be, “It depends—I’ve really enjoyed as always getting to know everyone better as you really get to know people when you are living with each other and one of the people I’m really excited to know better is Alina Zagitova who I will be going to the gala tonight with. I’ve also been working closely with Zhenya and you will see the results later on in the show.” At that, he passed the mic back to Scott who pulled the next question out of a hat that he was holding. Zhenya couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised by his response that he had mentioned her especially considering how strained everything had been between them. 

The next questions went quickly with Tessa and Scott clearly trying to ensure that everyone had a chance to answer a few despite the fact that Zhenya was willing to guess that the majority of the questions that would have been asked were addressed to either Shoma or Yuzu. Zhenya herself had been asked to answer a few they were all trivial things based off of KPop and Anime that she found easy to talk about.  
“And our final question of the night is for the stunning Evgenia Medvedeva and is asking about her feelings about her change to Brian Orser and going forewards to the next season,” Scott asked sparing Zhenya a sympathetic glance at the question—it was far more loaded than most of the others that had been passed around the group and Zhenya had a feeling that Tessa had screened the questions before putting them in the hat but clearly in this case she had missed the question. 

Zhenya took the microphone from Scott her hands sweating slightly and she couldn’t help but be terrified that she would drop it. She had to think of something smart to say which wouldn’t cause trouble amongst whilst also giving the massive waiting audience and answer. “ I’m really excited for my new coaching arrangement and at being able to try out new things and explore my potential, improve my performances and keep on challenging both my tech score and my pcs marks so I can continue to push myself forwards. However, my priority next season will be to keep on entertaining you and ensuring my skates are those that I can be proud of.” Zhenya paused trying to work out whether or not she was expected to say anything else whilst the translator translated it into Japanese. 

“And there we have it,” Tessa said taking the mic off from Zhenya not a moment to soon. “So I hope that everyone has enjoyed our little QnA and our performances so far and will appreciate the rest of our show.”

Zhenya filed off the ice after the other skaters besides her as fast as she could still slightly stressed out by the question and rewording both the question and the answer in her head again and again not sure if she had answered the question right. “You good there?” Yuzu asked brushing past her on their way off the ice.

“Yeah I’m fine—that question just threw me off a little,” Zhenya said forcing a strained smile on her face in a bid to reassure Yuzu

Yuzu smiled at her warmly, “Don’t worry you answered it as well as you could and no one will have a problem with you wanting to improve yourself.”

“Thanks,” Zhenya said gratefully relieved to get some validation that she had indeed said the right thing. She glanced back at Yuzu as she slid the guards for her skates back on frowning slightly as his costume, “Don’t you need to get changed for the duet there will only be four performances before us.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Yuzu said only now glancing down at his costume and then at Zhenya who was already dressed in her blush pink costume for the duet. “I’ll catch you later then.”

Zhenya smiled Yuzu before the taller Japanese skater turned around and headed off into the warren of the rooms behind the ice in order to find his changing room. Once he had turned a corner and was out of her sight then Zhenya turned back to watch the ice rink and the quartet take to the ice together whilst the gentle Beatles music started up in the background.  
…

Yuzu felt jitters that he wasn’t used to fillling him as he looked down towards Zhenya as they waited to take to the stage together. He was used to performing with others in galas and shows but this felt far more personal with just the two of them on the ice together skating to what was at least supposed to be a very intimate piece of music. “You ready?”

“I’m slightly terrified,” Zhenya admitted glancing up towards Yuzu and he could see the same nerves that he had in her. “But I know that we are going to kill it and everyone will love it.”

“Well I am glad that you are so sure about it,” Yuzu joked. They stood in silence for a few moments Yuzu running through his movements in the duet in his head trying to go everything that they had to do. Before he knew it Javier, Patrick and Scott were filing past him after the last note of their music—Coldplay’s Viva la Vida—played. 

He smiled at Zhenya warmly before stepping onto the ice with Zhenya close behind him. It was dark and he couldn’t see her by the time they adopted their starting positions and he pulled his mask down from where it had been sitting on his forehead. He heard the breathy flutes and strings come in and as the lights turned on with two soft spotlights on him and Zhenya that contrasted with the busy light work earlier the pair of them started their performance. 

 

The performance went better than it had gone even in the practice when Tessa had raved about their chemistry. Both of their movements were assured and Yuzu felt completely free whilst he was skating with his thoughts totally on his movements and Zhenya so he could perform to the best of his abilities. He was so glad that he had worked out what was going on with Nathan because it meant that instead of his performance coming from his built up rage and jealousy at the pair of them it came from everything that was within him with no toxic undertones along him to truly be him and what he wanted to say to the crowd.

He pulled her up into a simple lift that Tessa and Scott had taught them for a few seconds before setting Zhenya back onto the ground. They stayed close together though with them spinning in synchronisation together before seemingly being drawn together and Yuzu couldn’t help but want to remove his flimsy mask so he could see his surroundings in full. He moved away to perform his triple axel whilst Zhenya performed a spiral around him and then they did a matched hydro blade to meet each other back in the middle. 

Zhenya finally reached out to rip off the mask during the crescendo of the song and Yuzu could hear the Italian lyrics soar over their movements and patterns on the ice. Then Zhenya seemingly recoiled from seeing his true face, Yuzu grabbed her arm spinning her around him before Zhenya succeeded in pulling away put this time Zhenya’s performance told of her horror and of her fear. He chased after her and whilst Zhenya appeared to escape him with the accents in the music choreographed with changes in directions and transitions to show her flight and even her despair. As the music grew around him and inside him as it came to the final climax of the song and the last stanza he grabbed one hand and pulled her in towards him whilst Zhenya collapsed into Yuzu’s arms apparently exhausted swooning.

Bearing her down to the ice Yuzu couldn’t help but feel déjà vu to when Zhenya had been the one cradling his head only two days ago and she arched her back across his leg with her hair brushing against the ice leaving shards of white standing out against the darkness of her hair. He rested his head on Zhenya’s extended torso as the singer sung the last word and the final chord played. Around the motionless pair and as the lights turned off leaving them in darkness so that Yuzu could only just make out Zhenya's features the crowd exploded into rapturous applause.


	21. The Gala Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the long-awaited Gala full of Yuzu and Zhenya content for you guys with a little cliffie at the end. I hope everyone enjoys it as I tried really hard to get it right and it was quite a long chapter which is part of the reason it ended up getting divided into two. As always thanks to all my reviewers, readers and those who leave kudos or bookmark as I wouldn't have written as much as I have without all of you.

Yuzu rapped on the door to Zhenya and Alina’s room smartly as he waited to pick up Alina to take her to the gala. He heard a squealing sound from within the room before he heard Zhenya ask through the wall, “Is that you Nathan?”

Instead of answering Yuzu merely waited at the doorway waiting for someone to open the door. He could hear the two girls within the room tittering and the sounds of objects clattering onto the ground. Finally, the door started to open slowly and he could see Zhenya’s face slowly being revealed by the door. “It’s you?” she said slightly surprised as she took in Yuzu standing in her doorway. 

She was beautiful. Her hair was loose falling past her shoulders with the front of it braided back out of her face letting him see her features that she had carefully highlighted with makeup. Her dress was purple and the way it fell on Zhenya created curves that Yuzu had never seen on Zhenya before, as he was so accustomed to her training clothes. Yuzu couldn’t help but feel that if he’d seen Zhenya looking like this before he wouldn’t even consider whether or not he had liked her in the beginning. He had known her since she was 15 and a teenager but looking at her now she was no young naïve girl anymore. “Hey,” he stammered after a few moments realising that he had been staring at Zhenya for too long. 

“Hey,” Zhenya agreed looking slightly confused at Yuzu’s inane phrase. “Are you hear for Alina?” 

Yuzu swallowed hard remembering that he wasn’t taking Zhenya to the gala but instead her younger teammate and with all his heart he wished that the green tie that Javier had nagged him to buy was purple to match Zhenya’s dress. “Yes, I am. Is she around.”

“She’s just finishing her hair and makeup in the bathroom,” Zhenya explained and a sound emerged from the bathroom to corroborate her story. “I might have hogged the bathroom a little,” she added in a conspiratorial tone.

“Well you do look beautiful, “ Yuzu said letting the words that he had held inside him since the moment that he had first seen her in that dress. He regretted the words as soon as he said them—he was supposed to be an adult, a professional athlete who’d won two Olympic gold medals but he was sounding like a silly schoolboy.

Zhenya flushed slightly before looking down averting her eyes from Yuzu and he wanted her to look back at him more than he could say. “It’s just a dress and makeup,” Zhenya explained looking slightly uncomfortable and Yuzu knew that he had said something wrong. Yuzu paused about to say something and just rephrasing it in his mind until it sounded slightly less stilted and awkward. “Thank you so much for taking Alina to the gala both Alina and I really appreciate it and Alina has been excited for the gala since before the tour even started.”

“It’s no problem,” Yuzu said slightly stiffly as the moment to press further was lost with the recollection of Alina who served to put a barrier between the pair of them. “It is probably good that the two Olympic gold medallists are going together anyway.”

Zhenya’s face flashed slightly before she regained her composure and Yuzu felt a rush of vindictive pleasure at being able to turn the tables on the girl before him considering that he was taking Alina as a favour for her. “Yes, of course, having the two gold medallists together will look very good in the photos.” She turned back towards the room from where she stood just behind the threshold of the door. “Alina are you ready yet.”

“Five minutes,” the younger girl responded her voice muffled through the doorway sounding stressed out and just after she spoke Yuzu heard several objects colliding to hit the ground.

Zhenya held back giggled at Alina’s response and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel that as immaculate and perfect she had appeared when he had opened the door he liked this Zhenya better. She was still beautiful make no mistake but he could see the fine strands at the front that were falling out of her braids and the slightest of slips in her lipstick. “Are you excited for the gala.”

“Gala is a strong word considering it is just going to be the 14 of us skaters,” Yuzu pointed out. He had attended his fair share of galas and normally there would be more skaters but knowing Tessa and Scott the event would be suitably extra.

Zhenya frowned tossing her hair back behind one shoulder and Yuzu couldn’t help but be drawn to how glossy and dark it was and wonder if it would smell like jasmine as the rest of Zhenya did, “It will be all the better then because as a group we are so close and it is not as though anyone can be awkward when Gabby or Kaetlyn is around.”

“Touche,” Yuzu agreed but he couldn’t focus on what Zhenya was actually saying and instead he was just thinking about how he was supposed to survive the gala with Zhenya looking like that and dancing with Nathan. They stood in an awkward silence before Yuzu heard steps sounding from around the corner of the corridor and he felt his heart drop into his stomach as he saw Nathan come round. 

Nathan glanced up from the ground as he approached his thumbs folded into his suit jacket and Yuzu couldn’t help but be jealous of his easy self-assured confidence, “Hey Yuzu you are here for Alina right?”

“That’s the one,” Yuzu answered forcing a smile to his face as he turned towards Nathan unable to look away from the purple tie he had adopted that announced him to be Zhenya’s date. 

Zhenya stepped forward and Yuzu automatically stepped back away from her both to let her see and because he wasn’t sure what he would do if Zhenya got too close to him, “You are here at last.”

“Boyang was being super low in the bathroom—I think he’s really nervous to be taking Wakaba,” Nathan confided to Zhenya after he had pulled her in for a friendly hug and Yuzu hated the fact that he couldn’t treat Zhenya like that anymore because of his stupid feelings. 

Zhenya grinned, “Well Wakaba’s probably more nervous so at least they will match.”

Nathan gave her a quick once over and Yuzu wanted to stop him from looking at Zhenya in that dress but Nathan was her date so he just stood there motionless. “You look amazing Zhen. Do you wanna go?”

“Do you mind?” Zhenya asked glancing towards Yuzu. “I’m sure Alina will only be a minute or two longer.” 

“No problem,” Yuzu said between gritted teeth holding everything in inside his chest as tight as he could. “Have fun the pair of you.”

Zhenya smiled warmly before taking Nathan’s arm and Yuzu noticed only now that she had painted her nails to match her dress. “I’ll see you later,” she said turning back towards Yuzu. 

“Sav-,” Yuzu started before breaking off when he realised that Zhenya wouldn’t be listening to him anymore and was about to turn a corner and leave his sight. “Save me a dance,” he said finally finishing his earlier sentence knowing that Zhenya wouldn’t be able to hear him.

He was about to turn away from the stupid door forgetting what he was doing there any way in the first place when Alina finally emerged from the bathroom. Her natural curls fell down her back and her deep green dress that matched to Yuzu set off her tie. “I’m sorry that I took so long,” she apologised and Yuzu had to bit back any criticisms at the girl’s face, which was nervous and tentative.

“It’s no problem,” Yuzu said shaking his head slightly. “Do you want to go now.” Alina took his proffered arm and the pair of them set off walking in the footsteps of Zhenya and Nathan who had left only a minute prior. 

…

As Zhenya walked into the large room that normally served as a formal conference room for sports centre where they were saying her arm tucked into Nathan’s reassuringly her mouth dropped. Tessa and Scott had transformed the room so it resembled a ballroom more than the dreary conference room it had started out. Streamers hung from the ceilings and they had even set up flashing lights and what appeared to be a smoke machine to add to the winter wonderland them that Tessa had deemed to be an obvious choice for a group of figure skaters. 

“It’s amazing,” Zhenya whispered to Nathan.

Nathan chuckled and she could feel his chest rumble from where she stood, “It looks like what the other kids described prom to be back in America—except we had better be better dancers.”

Zhenya paused thinking over his words, “You never went to prom as a teenager.” As far as she could tell from her exposure to western culture the idea of prom was especially prevalent in America.”

“It’s called being a professional athlete,” Nathan said shrugging slightly. “One has to make choices.” He was right and Zhenya knew what he meant in regards to the fact that she often felt as though she had left her child behind when she had first competed internationally at the age of 13.

Zhenya grinned up towards him as an idea struck her, “Well we are going to give you a prom to remember in that case.”

The other skaters started to file in around them with the different couples looking more or less comfortable with each other. Satoko and Shoma were clearly close to each other at least in regards to friendship and they were whispering to each other whilst Gabby was tugging on Javi’s arm as though she wanted him to do something and hurry up. Tessa finally turned the music on and Zhenya and Nathan couldn’t help but groan as Despacito came on the song having been played out by all of the different ice dance teams at the Olympics and Tessa quickly changed it over to Beyonce’s single ladies.

Gabby finally broke away from Javier and she grabbed both Satoko and Wakaba by the hand and spun them into the middle of the stage. Zhenya was almost certain that both her and Kaetlyn had been drinking before turning up but she couldn’t help but smile at Gabby’s exuberance. “Get your little butt out here,” Gabby called towards Zhenya from where she stood on the dance floor and even as Zhenya watched Kaetlyn joined in the little cluster of girls in the middle.

“Do you mind if I go,” She asked Nathan who shook his head before releasing Zhenya’s arm that had been entwined with his. Zhenya stepped out into the centre conscious of the length of her dress and careful not rip it. Gabby offered her hands to Zhenya who took them before getting spun around by Gabby laughing like crazy. The song was about to end when Alina joined her in the middle and whilst Zhenya flicked her head and bounced around in the throng of girls in the centre raising their hands to match the song lyrics she couldn’t help but think in the back of her mind that Yuzu must have arrived. 

The song changed and Tessa joined them with Scott following slightly cautiously behind her as a song from Ed Sheeran’s new album started playing with its catchy beat and the other skaters started to join in. Zhenya only was able to make her way back towards Nathan when Shake it off started and she so out of breath and hot at that point as there was now air conditioning and she was wearing a full-length dress so instead of saying anything she merely grinned at him nodding whenever he said anything. 

As the song ended Zhenya whispered a few words towards Nathan making her excuses whilst she looked for the beverages and she had just poured herself some of the punch and taken a sip when she realised that one of the skaters in humour had spiked it. Laughing she finished her drink before joining the others back in the circle as the obligatory Gangman Style came on even though it was over five years old by this point and the entire group performed the motions together even Yuzu who was chatting to Javier in between movements looking pensive. 

Swinging her hair around feeling the strands towards the underside of it frizzed up from her sweat. The songs swept by Zhenya and she just kept on spinning and dancing in the middle not willing to stop as she knew that if she didn’t continue movements then she wouldn’t be able to resume. However, the energetic songs had to come to an end and as they started to slow down everyone’s movements slowed down until they were swaying together everyone’s head together and Zhenya couldn’t help but be so glad that she was here with such a great group of people even though Patrick Chan’s dancing was cringe-worthy.

As a full-fledged slow song started the respective couples started to pair up and Zhenya found Nathan so that the pair of them could start to sway. However, despite their peaceful appearance Zhenya’s mind was buzzing and she burned to move again instead of being trapped within Nathan’s arms. She had rested her head on Nathan’s shoulder and the song had changed twice before she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Yuzu. Alina was across the hall pouring herself a large glass of the spiked punch and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel that her plan had backfired. 

“Can I cut in,” Yuzu asked after a few moments when both Zhenya and Nathan had stopped swaying. 

Nathan spared her a questioning look and Zhenya nodded—if Yuzu wanted to dance with her there was nothing that either of them would be able to do. Nathan stepped away not saying any words and as Zhenya felt Yuzu’s hands clasp around her narrow waist she saw the American skater head towards Alina and the beverages table and she couldn’t help but smile and his kind-heartedness. 

Yuzu didn’t say anything to her but hold her as close as he could as they took small shuffling steps and Zhenya couldn’t help but wonder why he wanted to dance with her if he wasn’t even going to say anything to her. His hands seemed to be burning hot however with the heat radiating from everywhere that they touched throughout her body and even to her toes. After the last lyrics of the crooning song were heard Yuzu leant down to whisper into her ear, “Do you want to come outside with me.”

Zhenya knew it was a bad idea but something about it thrilled her and she took Yuzu’s proffered hand without saying anything. She saw Nathan’s head turn sharply towards the pair of them and offered a reassuring smile to tell him that she was relaxed and in control of the situation. “What is it?” she asked at last once they had left the room into the bright corridors.

“I’ll tell you in a moment,” Yuzu said glancing down at their entwined fingers before pushing open a door to a dim room lit only by the setting sun. There was something about his confidence was off and Zhenya couldn’t help but wonder if he had drunk too much of the spiked punch. 

Zhenya frowned crossing her arms, “Why did you cut in when I was dancing with Nathan?”

“I wanted to dance with you,” Yuzu answered and there was something in his eyes that both scared Zhenya and excited her. 

“Why?” Zhenya asked unimpressed taking a few steps back as she started to snap out of her foggy mindset from the stupid punch.

Yuzu stepped forwards towards Zhenya until she could count every single one of his eyelashes and she was about to flinch and leave when he whispered to her his warmth breath against her face, “Close your eyes.”

Part of Zhenya didn’t want to and she just wanted to leave closing the door leaving Yuzu and his confusion behind her and joining the others--she could even hear their music running in her head and her blood seemed to pulse in time with it. But she didn’t and instead, Zhenya closed her eyes slowly.

She waited there for a few seconds eyes closed and she was about to either open them laughing or upon opening her eyes punch Yuzu. She did neither and as she was about to open her eyes she felt Yuzu press his lips against hers as his hands knotted together in her dark hair.


	22. The Gala Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry all of you guys because I thought that I had upladed this chapter but clearly I must ahve been tired and forgotten to press the button but here it is at last and there will still be a chapter tonight. I'm so sorry as well cause I left you with a cliffie and if you guys didn't hate me already you probably will now after this chapter xxx. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy and thanks to everyone who reviewed as I think my last one was my most commented on chapter :):)

His touch was invigorating and warm and Zhenya couldn’t help but kiss him back as she tried to comprehend how she had ended up in a secluded room with Yuzu kissing her. She could feel the heat from his hands that were wrapped in her hair spreading through her into her toes and in her intoxicated mind, Zhenya never wanted to stop kissing him. 

He pulled away from her for a moment his breath ragged and his eyes were massive and dark as they gazed into her own. Without his touch on her lips, Zhenya felt her mind clearing from its foggy state and when he pressed his lips against her Zhenya could realise how wrong this all was. She stepped back shoving Yuzu away from her. His hands ripped out strands of her hair as she forced him away from herself. “What are you doing?” Zhenya asked indignantly brushing the hair that had fallen forwards out of her braids behind her ear.

“Kissing you—Did I do something wrong,” Yuzu answered confused his hair as dishevelled as hers and eyes heated. He stepped forwards towards Zhenya as though to kiss her again but Zhenya stepped backwards away from him conscious that she was approaching the wall of the room.

Zhenya frowned at him unsure about his sudden change of heart and where this had all come from, “Did you have too much to drink?” It wasn’t likely but it was one of the few things that would make sense considering the context as it wasn’t as though Yuzu had ever shown any interest in her before let alone anything close to kissing her like that. 

“Why do you ask that?” Yuzu questioned and Zhenya could hear a hard edge start to creep into his voice.

Zhenya breathed in slowly in an attempt to control her out of control heart rate that was pounding faster every time that she looked at Yuzu’s face, “Because you’ve never seemed to care about me as anything other than a friend.” 

Yuzu laughed and it echoed throughout the otherwise silent room, “Believe me if that was true then my life would be so much easier.”

“What do you mean,” Zhenya asked thinking back to that freezing cold balcony and Yuzu’s reaction, which had kickstarted this entire thing. 

Yuzu stared at her incredulous as though he couldn’t comprehend her question, “Haven’t you worked it out Zhenya—I care about you more than just a friend.”

Zhenya didn’t understand Yuzu’s words and his frankness in telling her about his feelings. His tone made it sound like it was obvious and Zhenya couldn’t help but run through her memories trying to work out when this had happened. It had been awkward between the pair of them for a while now but Zhenya couldn’t pinpoint a date on it especially considering that he had turned her down at the start of the tour, “What?”

“What else do you want me to say to you Zhenya.” Yuzu said sounding slightly defensive as a result of Zhenya’s lack of a reaction. “I’ve told you that I like you so surely what matters now is what you think.

Zhenya looked down trying to work out how to put her emotions that were running on high into words, “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier back when I tried to kiss you on the first night.” She couldn’t get this question of her mind because surely if he cared about her back then or if he claimed to love her than he would have kissed her back. 

“What does it matter,” Yuzu asked stepping towards Zhenya but when Zhenya took a step back she found her back was pressed against the wall and she wasn’t able to get any more space from Yuzu. His gaze was frighteningly intense and didn’t leave her once. “I care about you and you care about me so what is the problem now?”

Zhenya looked down as she could feel her eyes watering as she realised what she was going to have to tell him and how hard it was going to be. “Yuzu I cared about you—probably more than I have for anyone else but I don’t, I can’t care about you anymore.” Her voice broke as she continued talking and she couldn’t help but let tears roll down her cheek.

“What do you mean,” Yuzu asked uncertain and his self-confidence sounded as though it had been lowered compared to his earlier words in Zhenya’s opinion. “What’s the problem.”

“The problem is that you really hurt me and whatever you say now can’t change that. You want to just go back but I don’t think that I can do that anymore. You’ve been crazily unreliable recently hating on me and ignoring me before declaring your love for me a day later. I scarcely trust you to be my friend let alone to date you.” Zhenya said everything that she had bottled up against Yuzu throughout the tour with his funny behaviour coming exploding out of her. 

Yuzu blinked at Zhenya twice whilst he tried to comprehend everything that Zhenya had just told him, “I’m sorry Zhenya—can we not just start again. I was an ignorant idiot and I didn’t know how I felt.”

Zhenya shook her head and stepped out to Yuzu’s side away from the wall and towards the door. “No one understands their feelings all the time but a relationship is built on trust and I can’t trust you anymore.” Tears were flooding down her cheeks and she felt as though all of her emotions were on the extreme from very happy to very sad. 

“Zhenya wait,” Yuzu said grabbing Zhenya’s hand to turn her back towards him and away from the exit. “I love you.”

The three short words were painfully intense and Zhenya was almost 100% sure that they were utterly accurate and looking at Yuzu’s face Zhenya could see the pain written all across it. “I can’t do this,” she said ripping her hand out of his. “I just need some more time. Can we just be friends.”

He said something behind her but Zhenya didn’t stop to listen and instead threw open the door to their little room. As she turned away from Yuzu she let all of her tears that she had been trying futilely to hold back out until she was had left with hollow empty sobs. 

She couldn’t do what Yuzu wanted her to do not anymore at least. If he had done this back when she had been obsessed with him in her first senior season or even at the start of the tour when she cared about Yuzu more than anyone else and relished their close friendship. But whilst she had never stopped caring about him her reactions in response to him going to the gala with Alina telling her that Zhenya had grown up in the last season. 

It had been her hardest season this year and Zhenya had had to learn to put herself first and protect herself from being in positions in which she would be vulnerable again. She’d learnt that enough from her split with Eteri to not want to ever be in a similar place and she wouldn’t, couldn’t risk giving him her trust if even the slightest part of her thought that something similar might happen again. 

…

Yuzu watched Zhenya leave not turning back as he cried out after her. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to work—in all those stupid books and movies the guy would tell the girl how they felt and it would work out perfectly for them by the end. The love interest wasn’t supposed to have trust issues from her past and the protagonist wasn’t supposed to be a coward who needed to almost loose whatever he loved to realise the truth. He paused for a second and he could hear her loud sobs through the door and he realised that however hurt and rejected he might be now it was nothing to compare to what Zhenya must be feeling. 

Walking to the door somewhat nervous about what he would see beyond it he pushed it open to reveal an empty corridor. He hurried along it his pace increasing with worry as his mind conjured up images of Zhenya unhappy to motivate him to move. Finally, he rounded a corner to see Zhenya sitting on the ground her beautiful purple dress spread around her on the carpet clinging her knees to her chest as though she was in foetal position. Her chest heaved as massive sobs wracked her body but she was otherwise silent. 

It was a stupid thing to do Yuzu knew but she had told him that if he wanted something to ever happen between them he had to build up her trust. So instead of leaving her there Yuzu built up his courage and walked up to Zhenya before sitting beside her.

“Yuzu,” Zhenya whispered looking up at him and makeup she had painted onto her face for the gala so happily was visibly smudged across her face making her look haggled and tired. “What are you doing?”

Yuzu looked down at the younger girl who had moved closer towards him subconsciously so that their shoulders were brushing. “I’m being your friend Zhenya—until or if you ever decide if you might want anything more from me that’s all I’ll be.” Zhenya’s tears as much as they might have tried would never be able to stop him from caring. 

Zhenya murmured her thanks towards him and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the young girl at her broken voice and he couldn’t help but wonder what he had said to set her off like this. Even when he had said that stupid thing about Zagitova she hadn’t seemed to be such a mess—it was only when he asked her to trust him that she seemed to struggle. Beside him, she continued to shake and Yuzu wrapped an arm around Zhenya to pull her close and she complied easily.

As he held her he chest started to move more regularly and her convulsions and sobs started to slow down becoming less frequent. “There you go,” he murmured into her hair but Zhenya didn’t respond and when he craned his head he realised that Zhenya had somehow drifted off to sleep.

She must have been exhausted Yuzu couldn’t help but think as he held Zhenya’s slight body for her to fall asleep so fast and he could feel her ribs beneath her purple dress. With her makeup smeared he could see the rings around her eyes that she must normally hide and she looked like a child instead of the 18-year-old adult she was supposed to be. He couldn’t help wonder what must have been on her mind though she had every reason to be stressed out about the future considering that with her move to Orser the onus was on her to keep on winning so that she couldn’t be written off after having lost both Euros and the Olympics. Everything that had gone down must have been unbelievably stressful for her and with Alina in her room, there was no one she could confide in or place for her to let all of these emotions out. 

It was no surprise that she didn’t want to trust him and that him pushing her to trust him and claiming that he loved her reminded her of an unhappy past and he felt stupid for not thinking about the connotations of his words but he hadn’t been thinking much at all when he had kissed her. From what she had told him about her father the relationship there wasn’t a good one with the pair of them being distant and Zhenya being forced to learn when she was just 12 or 13 that he wouldn’t always do what’s best for her. Furthermore, Eteri had always claimed to love Zhenya as a daughter but had utterly betrayed Zhenya’s trust to the rest of the world. Why would Zhenya considering her experience expect anything more from Yuzu who had really only hurt her and driven her away since the tour had began but for him to claim to love her and when he was bored to through her away and his actions tonight would have broken down the mental barriers in her head leading to these massive explosions of emotions. 

He glanced down at Zhenya who asleep looked far more peaceful then she had ever done awake. Glancing around to locate himself in the hotel he shifted Zhenya in her curled foetus position until he was able to lift her. She weighed nothing and he carried her easily to the bedroom that he had been assigned. It was dark inside and he rested her on his bed as he wasn’t confident to be able to make his way back to her room in the dark whilst carrying her. Having rearranged the skirts of the dress so they wouldn’t crease Yuzu turned his attention to her hair. He undid the countless small braids she had used until her hair was running down her back loose before setting her down on the bed fully. 

Yuzu settling into the bed on the other side of the room having changed into pyjamas and he glanced to the side and smiled to see Zhenya sleeping her chest rising slowly and Yuzu felt himself being lulled into sleep by the sound of her rhythmic breathing or the distant music that was playing across the hall.


	23. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is the next chapter of MYRJ and I'm so glad that none of you guys came after me with a pitchfork after the last chapter. This chapter is a little late and I'm sorry but this chapter is basically just Yuzu and Zhenya which should make you guys happy as it deals with the pair of them rebuilding their relationsip. Anyways I hope that you all enjoy and thanks as always for all of you guys amazing reviews and the fact that this story just hit 50,000 words which considering that I haven't been writing this story for even a month is crazy and I wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys.

She was beautiful Yuzu couldn’t help but think from where he sat on the bed his back resting against the wall. Shoma had woken him up when the younger Japanese skater had slipped in to pick up a change of clothes—he had bunked in with Boyang and Nathan last night after when he had found Yuzu sleeping in his bed and Zhenya in Yuzu’s apparently. He had hissed at Shoma when he had opened his mouth to talk after entering as he didn’t want Zhenya to be woken up. 

More than anything though Zhenya looked far more peaceful asleep than when she was awake and considering how exhausted she had seemed to be sleeping was probably what was best for her. He checked his watch aware of the fact that at 10 the breakfast buffet was going to close and Zhenya ought to eat once she woke up. It was 9:30 and Yuzu couldn’t tell whether he ought to leave to get food or whether it would stress Zhenya out more if she had to wake up alone in his room that she had only been in once before. 

He didn’t want to do anything preferring to just watch Zhenya but as the minutes ticked by on his watch he decided that if Zhenya was going to have breakfast he’d have to get something for her now. Standing up he walked to the door and casting a glance back towards where Zhenya lay asleep still dressed in her purple dress. Ducking and weaving through the corridors quickly Yuzu made his way to the dining room unhindered.

It was quieter than normal with most of the skaters looking as though they were nursing headaches as they spoke to each other in muted undertones. Moving towards the buffet Yuzu tried to work out what food Zhenya would like the most and what would be easiest for him to carry back. “Shoma told me that Zhenya slept in your room last night,” a voice said from behind Yuzu startling him out of his thoughts.

“Nathan,” Yuzu said surprised turning back to see the American skater. “She was exhausted after the gala I don’t think that she’s been sleeping properly for weeks and she basically collapsed so I took her to my room cause it would be easier. I slept in Shoma’s bed so you don’t need to protect her honour.”

Nathan snorted, “Believe me Zhenya can protect her own honour I just want to make sure that she is okay.”

“I think she will be okay,” Yuzu said remembering Zhenya’s peaceful expression whilst she slept. “I’m just getting food for her right now because she’s still asleep and I don’t want her to miss breakfast.”

“You seem to have it all sorted,” Nathan said watching Yuzu appraisingly and Yuzu shifted under his gaze hoping that whatever Nathan was seeing in him was good enough for him. “Keep me updating okay—my number should be on Zhenya’s phone.”

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed and after Nathanleft heading towards where some of the other young skaters were sitting he turned back towards the display of food. Checking his watch he realised that he had left Zhenya in his room alone for over ten minutes now so he had to make a decision fast. Grabbing an open box of the nearest cereal—coco pops—and two bowls and two spoons he set off towards his room. He brushed into Javier on his way out dropping a spoon but instead of responding he just picked up the spoon and kept on going to his room as fast as he could.

Pushing the door open with his torso as his hands were full Yuzu stumbled into his bedroom. He turned his head to check his bed where he had left Zhenya sleeping only to see a crumpled space on his duvet where Zhenya had been lying throughout the night. Dropping the coco pops and cutlery onto the chest of drawers Yuzu glanced around the room to see if he could detect any sign of a message than Zhenya might have left for him. Panicking now slightly as he wasn’t aware of what state of mind Zhenya might be at the moment he pushed the door back open again only to see an empty corridor with no Zhenya in sight. 

Sighing Yuzu retreated back to Shoma’s bed and sat himself down on it trying not to imagine the possibilities for how Zhenya could be feeling at the moment if she was anywhere near as upset as she had seemed last night. He was about to pull his phone out to text her about her whereabouts when he saw the door to the bathroom start to creak open to reveal Zhenya.

“Hey,” she said weakly her hair had been pulled out of her face and the streaky makeup had been washed off of her face leaving her looking young and somewhat confused in her floor-length purple ball gown.

“You scared me—I thought that you had disappeared,” Yuzu said resisting the urge to give her a hug so great was his relief at seeing Zhenya in person after worrying about her for disappearing. “I got breakfast for you,” he gestured towards the box of coco pops and the bowls that sat on the chest of drawers.

“Thanks, I’m starving,” Zhenya said sitting on Yuzu’s bed pouring the coco pops into the bowl. Grabbing a spoon Zhenya started to nibble on the chocolate cereal, “What happened last night—I remember crying and you coming and not much else.”

“No worries,” Yuzu said feeling his own stomach rumble and he remembered why he had bought two bowls and two spoons. Standing he grabbed the remaining cutlery as well as the coco pops and poured himself a bowl of the stuff to eat. “Not much happened you cried yourself to sleep and then I brought you here as it was closer and I couldn’t carry you that far.”

Zhenya laughed the coco pops on her spoon falling off back into her bowl, “You were able to carry me?”

“I’d have you know I’m a lot stronger than you might think,” Yuzu pouted before munching down on his coco pops pretending to sulk. He glanced up at her keenly, “How are you though.”

Zhenya frowned at him and Yuzu could almost think that everything was like normal but whenever he looked away from her face he saw the purple dress from last night and he couldn’t help but remember her crying last night, “Everything is fine.”

“Zhenya you were really upset last night even more than it might have been expected by the situation,” Yuzu said trying to sound reasonable knowing that whatever was going on with Zhenya had better be dealt with now before the tension was able to build up. “Please just talk to me about it.”

“It’s nothing,” Zhenya said setting the bowl down on her lap. Yuzu stared at her unimpressed and finally, Zhenya relented, “Whenever people say they care about me they end up betraying me or using me.”

“Are you talking about Eteri,” Yuzu asked slowly trying to put the pieces together to work out what he should do to help Zhenya.

Zhenya ate a spoonful of the chocolate cereal as though she was trying to prevent herself from answering the question but Yuzu’s gaze was unrelenting forcing the words out of her, “Maybe. It is just I don’t have a good track record with things like that and considering everything that’s gone down recently I can’t be hurt again.”

Yuzu was able to fill in the information that he had heard from Orser or the other skaters around Zhenya’s narrative as he tried to pair up her massively simplified story with the rumoured reality, “You know that you can talk to me about all of this—whatever you say will remain the pair of us and if you need time out from being with Alina all the time you can always come here.”

“Thanks for the offer but I don’t know if Shoma will be a fan of me popping in at all times,” Zhenya said smirking referring to Yuzu’s roommate and Yuzu couldn’t help but laugh as he imagined Shoma’s reaction. “You promise not to use me for your own benefit.”

“Why would I do that,” Yuzu said smiling at Zhenya reassuringly. “Besides all you need to do is tell the press what I told you last night and that will be a far bigger controversy that whatever I could say. Two-time Olympic Champion in love with the two-time World Champion who rejected him—that will take up all of the headlines.”

Zhenya laughed at Yuzu’s last point and he felt a warm flush that he was able to make her feel better, “Thanks, I needed to talk about this type of stuff with someone—I like Alina and sharing with her and all but I can’t bring up any of the stuff that went down with her cause I don’t want to hurt her.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but think about the situation and as he tried to find a solution that would allow Zhenya to have an outlet but one which wouldn’t hurt anyone around her or cause more negative rumours. “You don’t have an exhibition do you?”  
“No I wasn’t going to do one,” Zhenya said shaking her head. “I have enough on my plate and my foot still isn’t fully better so I thought there would be no point as I don’t have choreography or even music.”

“Well that’s what we can work on today in our duet rehearsals as if it goes as well as it did yesterday we don’t need to do that much extra practice,” Yuzu said trying to think of a time when they could work together on Zhenya’s exhibition. 

“You’d do that,” Zhenya said looking slightly incredulous. “I thought that we had to win the competition for the best small group.”

“Who said we hadn’t already won,” Yuzu responded raising an eyebrow. He paused trying to work out how to respond to Zhenya’s first statement. “Believe me I’d do almost anything to help you.”

Zhenya knotted her hands together whilst she seemed to think, “Thanks I probably should go though considering that Alina will probably be worried about what happened to me last night as I never went back to her room.”

“Nathan was asking about you when I went to get breakfast stuff,” Yuzu added remembering what the American skater had said. “I told him that you were going to be okay but both he and Alina will be reassured to see you.”

Pushing herself up to her feet Zhenya turned towards the door, “I’ll catch you later than at the same time as normal.” She took a few steps pushing open the door before stopping in her tracks, “Do you have any spare clothes I can’t really go out in this dress.” The dress was beautiful still but it was crumpled and a clear sign that Zhenya hadn’t gone back to her room last night. 

“Sure,” Yuzu said turning back to his wardrobe trying to work out if there was anything that he could give to Zhenya to wear. Snagging a pair of trackies and a simple black t-shirt Yuzu passed them to Zhenya who having taken them slipped into the bathroom to change into. 

He hadn’t known what to do about the entire situation between himself and Zhenya but taking the approach to just be with her and as supportive as possible seemed to be the right one considering she seemed more at ease now with him than she ever had done throughout the last few weeks of the tour. Zhenya finally emerged from the bathroom dressed in Yuzu’s clothes holding her purple dress in a folded wad of fabric and he couldn’t help but grin. His t-shirt hung of her slender form and she had tied the waistband of the trackies around her waist as tight as possible to hold them up on her hips. 

“What a second,” Yuzu said eyeing Zhenya and he couldn’t help but think that she looked cold. Grabbing his team Japan jacket from where it hung off the back of a chair and he passed it over to Zhenya. “Put this on you look cold.”

Zhenya pulled the jacket and tucked her hands into the pockets of the white jacket that set off her complexion and Yuzu couldn’t help but think it looked better on her than it did on him. “Thanks for everything,” Zhenya said earnestly facing Yuzu.

“It’s no problem,” Yuzu answered and it wasn’t he would have done all this for her regardless of whether she was going to thank him or not. “You need to go now before Nathan and Alina have my head.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed opening the door the warm light from the corridor lighting up and softening her features. However, she didn’t pause and instead stepped through the door letting it swing shut behind her and with the door closed Yuzu couldn’t help but think that the room felt somehow colder than it had before.


	24. Moving Forwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Chapter 24 of this story and I've finally started to get back onto a proper scheduale as Love Island has been wasting my evenings when I should be writing this chapter. OI hope that you guys all like this as I'm hust focusing more on Zhenya and her perspective whilst also having some Yuzu at the end. By the way I just wanted to say an extra special thanks as with my last chapter I reached 200 kudos and a hundred comments (not counting my responses) which in my opinion is crazy for a fic that hasn't even been on this forum for a month so thanks so much to everyone whose reading thestory and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter xxxx

“You’re back are you okay,” Alina asked running forwards to wrap Zhenya in a hug once she opened the door. Zhenya returned it but she could feel how tightly the other girl held her and could tell that she had been worried. 

Zhenya couldn’t help but smile at the younger girl’s concern, “I’m fine don’t worry I just ended up sleeping somewhere else last night because it was easier.” Zhenya knew she was covering up the truth significantly if not straight out lying to Alina but the entire story would be difficult to esplain and Zhenya didn’t really know what the situation between her and Yuzu even was.

Alina released her vicelike grip on Zhenya and took a step back to take in Zhenya’s dishevelled appearance, “Why are you wearing a Japanese team jacket?” Zhenya looked down unwilling to answer the question as it would reveal where she had been last night. “It’s Hanyu’s isn’t it,” Alina pressed her eyes lighting up at her solution.

“Maybe,” Zhenya conceded reluctantly meeting Alina’s eyes. “It’s not a big deal or anything I was just really cold so he leant it to me.” She shrugged the jacket off reluctant to give up its warmth and rested it on the back of a chair along with her purple dress that Alina hadn’t noticed yet. 

“And are you also wearing Yuzuru’s clothes,” Alina said arching an eyebrow down at Zhenya and Zhenya almost couldn’t believe that the younger girl was taller than her now. “Did you sleep with Yuzu last night.”

Zhenya rolled her eyes laughing at the younger girls question, “No nothing happened I mean I did end up sleeping in his bed,”

“Nothing happened but you ended up in Yuzu’s bed Zhenechka,” Alina teased. “That’s very believable.”

Zhenya’s cheeks flamed crimson but it was true nothing had happened last night indeed the problem had arisen in the fact that nothing happened. “He slept in Shoma’s bed Alinka—it was totally platonic.” Except for the fact that he had kissed her so hard that Zhenya could still feel the heat from his touch and he’d held her until she had cried herself to sleep knowing not to ask anything more from her. 

Alina frowned, “Where did you go I though you and Hanyu left early together—neither of you were at the afterparty in Kaetlyn and Gabby’s room.”

Zhenya wasn’t surprised at the news of an afterparty especially considering that it was located in Gabby and Kaetlyn’s room however she was slightly surprised that Alina had gone considering the younger girl preferred to stay in the shadows normally “How was the afterparty.”

“It was good Nathan convinced me to go and kept me company most of the night after Yuzu and you left. You might as well have asked Nathan to take me instead of Yuzu,” Alina said sharply and Zhenya couldn’t help but cringe inside thinking about that decision. It had had backfired massively on both Alina who ended up being ditched by Yuzu as early as he could and Zhenya herself as despite the fact she was supposed to be there with Nathan she had only danced with Nathan once and instead spent most of her evening with Yuzu. “But you are not changing the subject Zhenya—what happened with you and Yuzu.”

“Literally nothing,” Zhenya said brushing off Alina’s question nonchalantly. “He was a bit drunk and we went to his room to talk and I fell asleep there in my dress as I’ve been really exhausted lately. In the morning then he leant me some clothes so that I could come back to my room to put on my actual clothes.” Everything that Zhenya said was technically true she told herself as she didn’t like lying to Alina. They hadn’t been super close until recently but after Alina’s disappointment at Worlds they had come together will Zhenya consoling the younger girl when Eteri and Dudakov wouldn’t.

Alina smiled at Zhenya sceptically and Zhenya knew that the younger girl wouldn’t have completely bought her abridged retelling of the night before. “Regardless you need to get changed for training unless you want to wear Yuzu’s clothes there too because I think that you might want to keep your night time adventures on the down low.”

“Night time adventures,” Zhenya snorted at Alina. “You make me sound like I’m some foul seductress or prostitute.”

“Well you have got both Nathan and Yuzu falling over themselves to do things for you,” Alina said folding her hands into her pockets as she looked at Zhenya tauntingly. 

Zhenya didn’t even know what her response to Alina’s question could be as she found the entire thing so absurd. “Me and Nathan are like platonic soul mates he could be my brother and I couldn’t be any less attracted to him and it’s not like there is much going on with Yuzu and me at the moment so that comment is entirely unwarranted.”

Alina pouted in thought in response to Zhenya’s statement, “Does that mean I can have Nathan because he is an ultimate sweetie.” 

“No,” Zhenya said giving Alina a playful tap on her arm. “You are a 15 year old child and Nathan is 19 and thus far too old for you and he’ll almost certainly corrupt you Alinka.”

“I’m sixteen in two weeks,” Alina protested before stopping when Zhenya frowned at her and she instead crossed her arms to sulk.

Zhenya couldn’t hold back a laugh at Alina’s petulant face, “Give me a second cause I need to change okay cause we need to go.”

...

Zhenya tucked her hands into the pockets of Yuzu’s jacket nervously. She had decided to put it back on after she had gotten changed into her own clothes as she reasoned that it would be easier to return it to Yuzu but she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious considering that Yuzu’s name was written on the back across her shoulders. She glanced back to say something to Alina but the younger girl was engrossed in her phone and Zhenya instead kept on walking until she reached the door to the rink and pushed it open. 

The rink was full of skaters who were all talking to each other in muted tone and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh at the site. Adjusting her bag on her shoulder and wishing for the hundredth time that the team Japan jacket was less blinding white. 

“Nice jacket,” Nathan said glancing up at Zhenya as she passed by him trying to find a spot on the bench to pull her boots on—Alina had peeled off a few moments ago to talk to Wakaba and Satoko who were perched on the other set of benches. 

Zhenya rolled her eyes remembering that Yuzu had told her that Nathan was aware that she had spent the night before in his room, “Don’t be a jerk Nate—I’m just giving it back to Yuzu.”

“Of course,” Nathan said waggling his eyebrows fiercely. “Yuzu said I don’t need to protect your honour so if you corroborate that it will be a great weight off of my shoulder.”

“You protect my honour,” Zhenya asked incredulously at the statement. Nathan was sweet and all but he had almost no muscle on his torso at all and Zhenya thought she would probably be able to take Nathan in a fight. 

Nathan shrugged tightening the laces on his left boot, “This is Yuzu we are talking about I’m fairly confident that Alina could take Yuzu down.”

“Touché,” Zhenya agreed trying to envision Nathan and Yuzu fighting but every time Nathan seemed to be wearing a red tutu and she couldn’t help but laugh. “I need to give him his jacket back if you don’t mind.”

“Of course you need to give the jacket back,” Nathan said sighing at Zhenya in a world-weary fashion.

Zhenya shifted her bag on her shoulder before continuing to move towards Yuzu before spinning on one foot to look back at Nathan frustrated, “You sound like Alina this morning.” She heard Nathan chuckle behind her but she didn’t look back and instead headed towards where Yuzu was fiddling with his skates. 

Settling herself down Zhenya couldn’t help but think about how this was one of the only times throughout the tour in which she had actually approached Yuzu and not the other way round. Instead of saying anything Zhenya merely pulled out her skates and started to tighten them around her feet preparing to get onto the ice. 

Yuzu straightened up in her peripheral vision and Zhenya couldn’t help but countdown to when she predicted he would finally say something, She had just reached ten when Yuzu finally asked her, “Is that my Team Japan jacket.”

Zhenya had the decency to look down flushing slightly away from Yuzu’s gaze. “I was just bringing it back for you as I thought you might want it back before I steal it permanently. “

Yuzu looked at her slowly and Zhenya knew that his name would be showing on the back of the jacket from where he was sitting. “You can keep it if you want—I’ve got a large enough collection of team Japan jackets at home to fill a wardrobe.”

Frowning slightly uncertain Zhenya fixed her eyes on Yuzu. The entire situation between the pair of them seemed bizarre to her and she couldn’t be certain about what their relationship was actually supposed to be like now that she knew that Yuzu at least thought he was in love with her. “You sure?”

“It looks better on you than it ever did on me,” Yuzu said before rising to his feet and moving towards the ice rink leaving Zhenya sitting on the bench alone with one of her ice skates on and the other still inside her bag. Watching him leave Zhenya tried to conceal an exhale of frustration. What was Yuzu up to now?

…

Yuzu couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he left Zhenya behind on the bench to fix her shoes. Not that he was trying to plant uncertainty in her mind but he couldn’t help but want to tease Zhenya slightly considering everything that she had put him through in regards to Nathan. 

She did look better in that jacket than Yuzu did though so he wasn’t lying in that respect and something unfamiliar in Yuzu liked seeing his name across Zhenya’s back as though to declare to everyone who saw her that she was his even if Zhenya still needed time he was going to be waiting for her whenever she was ready. So if Zhenya wanted to wear a jacket bearing his name on it Yuzu most certainly wasn’t going to tell her off for it or take the jacket back from her. 

Stepping onto the ice Yuzu joined the other skaters waiting for Tessa and Scott but his eyes were fixed on Zhenya who was focusing on tying the laces to her remaining shoe as tight as she could. She was the last on the ice following Tessa and Scott her hands buried deep into her jackets pockets and she seemed lost in thought. 

“Everyone,” Tessa called out over the quiet din of the ice rink silencing all of the other skaters. “Congrats on your first successful show and I hope that you enjoyed the gala we held for you all last night though I am aware that there were some activities afterwards that neither Scott or I sanctioned which I have been told to inform you are against the rules of the tour especially when they involve underage teenagers. “ At this, she broke off and it was clear to everyone that she was referring to how Alina had gotten completely wasted at the after party under Nathan’s guidance despite the fact at 16 she couldn’t legally drink. 

“Regardless of this matter we have basically decided to cancel training today and the ice time instead has been requested by Yuzuru and later to make up for this we will be doing team bonding activities,” Scott said smiling at the group cheerily and Yuzu was happy that he was going to get the ice time as he planned to help Zhenya work on developing an exhibition during that time which she could then show off in the upcoming shows. 

Tessa smiled at the skaters standing in front of her for a few moments, “Now scram.”

The group of people started to file off of the ice slowly and Yuzu could hear the murmurs of discontent about the fact that they had had to come down here and put their ice skates on for nothing. However, Yuzu spotting Zhenya start to leave the ice quickly skated after her realising that he hadn’t actually told her about his plans. 

Grabbing her wrist Yuzu grabbed Zhenya’s attention,” Don’t get off the ice quite yet.”

“Why? Don’t you have private ice time,” Zhenya said slightly confused and Yuzu could understand why it would sound like that. “If you want me to give feedback like I did for Nathan’s I can.”

Yuzu sighed rolling his eyes as the situation seemed incredibly clear to him, “I got the ice time so we can work out your exhibition like we talked about this morning—even if you don’t end up showing it in a show the practice will be good for you and it will give you an outlet to all the tension that seems to be building up around you.” He had mentioned this idea to Zhenya this morning so it is not as though he was completely springing the situation on her.

“You did that for me?” Zhenya asked and her eyes were warm and soft and looked more welcoming than they had for weeks. 

Yuzu ran a hand through his hair uncertain, “Why are you surprised? It’s going to be amazing if your exhibition will be anywhere near as good as our duet.”

“Not at all modest there,” Zhenya jibed back and Yuzu was glad that she was now confident and comfortable enough around him to make jokes. “I guess I just thought that it was an afterthought and not something that you were going to enact in real life.”

“I’d have you know I’m a man of my word Evgenia Medvedeva and once I agree to pursue something I don’t let it go,” Yuzu said referring ostensibly towards the idea of Zhenya’s exhibition but in reality he was thinking about his relationship with Zhenya and how he wasn’t going to let whatever either of them might have together fade away. 

Zhenya didn’t say anything to Yuzu merely keeping her eyes on the Japanese skater who shifted under her gaze unsure of what Zhenya was thinking and whether he had been too forward with her. She skated backwards a few strokes until she was standing in the middle of the ice rink her eyes still focused on Yuzu and shook her dark hair that was hanging loose behind her shoulders and Yuzu felt as though he was frozen in one place watching her. “Are you coming,” Zhenya taunted from where she was standing. 

Yuzu didn’t respond and only laughed as he glided across the ice towards the centre of the rink.


	25. Breakdown those walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey and here is the next chapter of MYRJ for all of you guys to enjoy. I do just want to preface this chapter by saying that Zhenya is very emotional and that this will stay as in my story whilst she doesn't have full-blown PTSD from being with Eteri it has had a very strong effect on her psyche which Yuzu is now starting to meddle with releasing emotions that Zhenya never realised that she had before which is why now all of these reactions are being triggered from her. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy and that you all had a wonderful weekend cause I was just being annoyed that i wasn't able to see Zhenya's new ex in the beautiful Leftovers dress and that it won't air until July or even August which isn't for forever :(.

“What are you doing,” Zhenya said frowning at Yuzu as he settled himself down so that he was sitting on the center of the ice. “I thought we were meant to work on my exhibition not yoga.” It was his idea and Zhenya couldn’t help but want to get started because considering how awesome their duet had been them collaborating on her exhibition ought be just as good.

Yuzu laughed at Zhenya statement as he looked up at her, “What was it that you said when we were working on our duet—we need a concept or at least to decide on an idea.” He paused and Zhenya was almost certain that she could catch him rolling his eyes at her. “Sit down.”

“It is wet and cold,” Zhenya complained looking down at Yuzu unwillingly. Her black leggings would get soaked if she sat down on the ice but he smiled up at her earnestly and Zhenya found herself joining Yuzu on the ground and folding her legs up to mimic him. “So what’s your sage wisdom because I’m losing feeling in my but.”

“Respect child,” Yuzu said staring Zhenya down but she could tell that he was joking. “So do you have any idea about what you want to do for the exhibition so we can work out where we can start from.”

His eyes were warm, seemed to be coaxing Zhenya into the truth and completely open to her and Zhenya couldn’t help but be glad that he was there for her at the moment. “I’m not really sure,” Zhenya knotted her fingers together as she thought, as she hadn’t even considered an exhibition until this morning. “I think I want it to be about empowering myself and moving forwards.”

Yuzu nodded slowly and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel a rush of pleasure at the fact he thought that it wasn’t stupid, “How personal do you want to get with it because your performances tend to be very involved.”

Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh at Yuzu’s euphemism for the performance aspect that she brought to every program that she did, “Are you talking about the orgasmic face that the people on youtube say I have.” Her tone was dry because she had learnt after two years that there was no point taking the haters seriously but she couldn’t help but laugh at Yuzu’s scandalised expression.

“Well those weren’t the words I would use but yes,” Yuzu said his cheeks flashing crimson and Zhenya couldn’t help but find his reaction utterly adorable. “I just don’t want to make you do anything that might make you uncomfortable when it comes to your exhibition.”

“I think I should be okay,” Zhenya said thinking. She had never been afraid of embracing her feelings to help her perform and she could still remember her free skate at Pyeongchang and the stinging tears that had fallen down her cheeks out of control. “If this is going to let all of the pent up stuff out which is why we are doing this than getting emotional is probably going to be part of it.”

“Perfect,” Yuzu said and Zhenya couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “I thought you’d say that but I just wanted to check as I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“No worries,” Zhenya said brushing off the last part of his statement off but she couldn’t help but feel touched that Yuzu seemed so concerned and thoughtful. “Do you have any ideas for music because I have nothing which would fit for this type of program.”

Yuzu shook his head and started to stand up to his feet, “We’re not doing the music or choreo yet.” 

“Wait what?” Zhenya questioned taking Yuzu’s hand to help pull herself to her feet. She wasn’t sure what Yuzu was planning but if they wanted to have this routine ready for the end of the tour, which was in a week and a bit, then they had to get started fast. 

Yuzu laughed at her before spinning her out on the ice away from him whilst he skated over to hook his phone into the speaker system, “Get ready to dance.” He yelled at her from across the rink and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh but as the music started to filter through the speakers and into the rink she found herself moving towards it.

…

Yuzu from his position at the side of the rink couldn’t tear his eyes of Zhenya as she moved to the music improvising her movements though he could recognise fragments of her previous routines in the odd turn or transition. He had decided to do this exercise to allow Zhenya to deal with everything going on within her head without having to stick to a set series of steps and had chosen a playlist full of large empowering ballads for her to skate towards. If she came up with anything good then they could always reincorporate it into the final routine.

As Adele’s soaring vocals came in filling the room Zhenya’s movements strengthened to match her power and Yuzu could see a similarity to when she had performed their duet alone back when Yuzu had messed stuff up with them for the first time. She had been stunning to watch then and he completely believed in her movements and the reckless abandon with which she had skated making a routine designed for two look as though it was a solo for her. Even her last jump, which she had fallen on, had been 100% rotated on and her fall terrifyingly loud but not as scary as when she hadn’t stood up again and just laid there crying. 

There was something raw in her skating now that reminded Yuzu of that intensity and whilst Zhenya’s performances were always engrossing Yuzu found himself drawn to every extended line or movement despite the fact there weren’t any jumps or movements that might put pressure on her bad foot. “More,” Yuzu barked out towards Zhenya seeing that she seemed to be tiring. “Get everything that’s in your head out and leave it behind.”  
Zhenya glanced towards him for a moment before closing her eyes and recommitting herself to her movements with everything that remained within her. Part of him thought that she was beautiful but more than anything she was powerful and awe-inspiring in her movements that fitted themselves to the swells in the movement and it didn’t take a great stretch of imagination for Yuzu to see Zhenya as Diana the roman goddess come down to earth. 

She yanked her hair tie out of her bun on a heavy down beat allowing her hair to fall down around her shoulders hiding her face from Yuzu’s piercing gaze but he didn’t need to see her face to see her fingers quiver and shake when she elongated her movements. She spun herself into a tight spin as the music on the speaker Lorde’s liability climaxed and she spun faster and faster only starting to slow as the song ended around her. It was only then in the quiet spot moment between the songs whilst Zhenya stood still having lost her momentum for the spin that Yuzu realised that the girl was crying.

Turning the music way down so that only the vocals and piano were audible Yuzu skated towards Zhenya as fast as he could. He’d wanted to push her and challenge her but not to leave her in tears. When he reached he could feel her shaking and he knew that he was right in choosing to do this with Zhenya as she needed to let everything that had built up within her out even if it drove her to tears now because it would be better for her in the long run but that didn’t mean that he wanted her to cry. 

“It’s okay,” he murmured warmly as he took Zhenya into his arms like he had when they had performed their duet and he felt Zhenya relax into his familiar content and Yuzu couldn’t help but be glad that they were building up their trust and relationship again even if this wasn’t exactly an ideal scenario for either of them. With his left arm supporting Zhenya Yuzu took several strokes forwards pulling Zhenya with him towards the exit as he needed to get the girl of the ice as soon as possible. 

Finally stepping of the ice, Zhenya clinging to him as though she was the teenager that her age said she was instead of the adult that she portrayed herself to be most of the time. Once they were both of the ice Yuzu wrapped her in a hug whispering quiet utterances into her dark hair to calm her down and relax her from her heightened state. Her breathing having slowed Yuzu sat her down on the bench and started to unlace his boots quickly his hands moving deftly on the skates to get them off as fast as possible. 

He had just tucked his boots into his back when he realised that Zhenya beside him was just tugging futilely on her laces to no avail. “Don’t worry I’ll do it,” he said softly and he slid onto the ground and with soft hands started to loosen the laces to allow Zhenya’s right foot to slide out. Glancing up at her face which Yuzu could see so clearly now that he was looking up at her Yuzu could see her puffy red eyes from her tears and the tears that had stopped now but had left marks along her face. Sliding the second boot off Yuzu tucked the pair of them into Zhenya’s bag to make it easier for them to be carried back to her room. 

“Thanks,” Zhenya said weakly but Yuzu could hear in her voice that she was regaining her spunk already and he was glad because whilst he cared about Zhenya despite her mood he didn’t know what was the right thing to do except be there for her. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have cried.” 

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Yuzu said still crouched on the ground staring up into Zhenya’s eyes. “You needed to do that Zhenya and to let it all out. You can’t just pretend it doesn’t exist to get yourself results in the short term.” He already knew from Zhenya that Eteri didn’t believe in sports psychology but he hadn’t realised that whatever had gone down there had been so bad that Zhenya seemed to mentally be a mess. He couldn’t help but be surprised how consistent she was on the ice in light of this—she had clearly learnt to bury anything deep inside herself to allow herself to maintain her composure when it came to competing but Yuzu couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t good for her to have so much baggage buried in her mind.

Zhenya sniffed slightly and smeared the last few tears on her cheek off with the back of her hand. “I’m not very good at letting it all out I don’t think,” she confided to Yuzu.

Pushing himself to his feet Yuzu grabbed a tissue from his bag before settling himself of the bench besides Zhenya, “Your actual skating was amazing—before you ended I couldn’t take my eyes off of you because I could see how you were making your performance into an outlet with each and every change of your edge or movement of your arms.”

She almost blushed so that her cheeks were the same colour as her eyes and Yuzu couldn’t help but grin at her slightly scrunched up face as she thought. “Really?”

“Really,” Yuzu corroborated his tone leaving no room for argument. He lifted the tissue into Zhenya’s sight, “May I?”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed carelessly and Yuzu leant forward to gently to pat the cluster of tears off of her cheek. It would probably be easier for Zhenya herself to do it but Yuzu liked the feeling of her soft skin whenever his fingers accidentally slipped and there was something intimate about the process that Yuzu couldn’t put into words. 

Yuzu finished with the tears quickly but he was loath to pull away from Zhenya and he instead pretended to still be dabbing at her cheekbone. She was so close to him now and he couldn’t count her eyelashes and see how she was nibbling on her lower lip out of uncertainty. He leant forwards wanting to kiss the teenage girl more than anything he had wanted before even his stupid back to back gold medallist that they loved to make a thing about. But when he looked in her eyes he saw their mistiness and the red and Yuzu knew that he couldn’t kiss her now if he wanted to develop a future with her. With great mental strength, he pulled himself away from the slightly from Zhenya putting those crucial inches between them so that Yuzu couldn’t do anything that he might regret in regards to Zhenya. 

“Do you want to listen to music,” Yuzu asked after a few moments of silence. “We do need to decide on what you should skate to music wise as the choreography and everything else is going right now.

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed taking one of Yuzu’s headphones only to delight when the music started to play into her ears and her innocent childlike glee was unmatched. Yuzu hyper aware of any contact from Zhenya rested his head on hers that was in turn resting on his shoulder as they stared out together onto the empty ice rink.


	26. Gymnastic Baseball???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 26 and it is a nice long chapter that is distinctly more happy than the last one if you guys are tired of angst with these two means mucking around and having fun in team bonding activities. This chapter was really fun to write as it allowed me to play with the friendly competitive vibe that we see from these two at competitions in comparison to the more sombre dynamic I have normally got going on. Thanks as always to everyone who has reviewed or simply enjoyed my story and I'll see you all tomorrow <3<3  
> VerityXxX

Zhenya couldn’t help but glare at Scott and Tessa who had gathered all of the skaters together for some stupid group activity. She had been there with Yuzu relaxing together listening to music and feeling better after her breakdown which seemed to becoming a regular habit that she needed to get a grip on when Boyang had turned up to pick them up. The younger Chinese skater had looked terrified upon seeing the pair of them even going so far as not being able to look Zhenya or Yuzu the eye and staring fervently into the ground—Zhenya didn’t understand his reaction considering they were just listening to music and if he was going to be at TCC during the summer than he’d have to get used to the different skaters hanging out. 

Regardless of how they had ended up there, Zhenya wished she were still at the ice rink with Yuzu’s warm presence at her side instead of stuck in the too hot gymnasium with all of the other skaters around whom she’d have to be happy and smiley as though everything was okay. Yuzu nudged her arm with his elbow from where he stood beside her and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel slightly reassured by his presence and the confident grin that he gave her. 

“Attention please,” Scott said from the front of the group of the skaters standing beside Tessa precariously on a bench. “So as you all know we have called you in for a team activity to bond together and have a bit of a laugh together.” 

“So we have decided to play a game that is based off baseball and gymnastics with you having to display agility to move from each base to the next whilst also having to work together in your team to beat the other,” Tessa explained but Zhenya couldn’t help but be slightly confused as she didn’t completely comprehend the rules of baseball nor how the apparatus that she could see strewn across the room really related to gymnastics. 

Scott waited for a few moments for the quiet buzz to die down in response to Tessa’s statement, “Does anyone have any questions.”

Zhenya found herself raising her hand to ask a question and when Scott nodded at her she couldn’t help but ask, “Is this compulsory or can I go back to my room cause I think it’s going to hurt my foot.” She was lying of course but Zhenya couldn’t help but want to return back to her bedroom and have some time to herself as she needed to get her head in place properly after all of her silly breakdowns. 

She felt Yuzu stirring beside her as though he was going to say something before Tessa’s voice came biting through the tension like a knife through butter, “This is a compulsory group activity so neither you nor Yuzuru can leave early.” Yuzu subsided beside her and Zhenya couldn’t help but grin at his pouting face as he hadn’t even been able to say anything before Tessa had cut him off.

“Indeed you two can be our two team captains and responsible for picking the teams,” Scott added smirking at the pair of them and Zhenya couldn’t help but want to throttle him not only did she have to go along with this silly idea but now she was a team leader against Yuzu.  
Yuzu turned to grin at her and Zhenya couldn’t understand why he seemed to be in such a good mood. “Ladies first,” he offered giving her first pick as the pair of them walked out of the group under Tessa and Scott’s instruction to start assembling the teams.

“Nathan,” Zhenya said without hesitation. Not only was on the people that Zhenya trusted the most but considering that he was American he would also probably know the mechanics of baseball. Leaving the crowd to join Zhenya he offered her a fist bump before joining her and Zhenya could see the relief on his face that he had gotten picked.

Yuzu raised his chin at Zhenya as though to challenge her and saying, “Alina.” He was pressing Zhenya’s buttons she knew by his decision to take Alina who was going to be Zhenya’s next pick.

Two could play this game Zhenya thought to her self and after a few moments she said, “Javier.” She could guess that Javier would be the person who she could pick most to annoy Yuzu and judging by his reaction to Zhenya’s choice it was clearly the right one.

“Wakaba,” Yuzu said trying to regain his cool and Zhenya shared a despairing glance with Wakaba whilst the young Japanese skater joined Yuzu’s team. 

Zhenya bit her lip as she scanned over the row of faces trying to work out who would be best to recruit, “Gabby.” Strategically the older Canadian girl had done gymnastics whilst she was younger so she might know what was expected from this in the game. 

“Shoma,” Yuzu said finally after a few moments. They continued to name names until each skater had 6 skaters grouped around them to form their team. Yuzu had chosen Alina, Wakaba, Kaetlyn, Boyang, Shoma and Scott whilst Zhenya had Javier, Nathan, Patrick, Satoko, Tessa and Gabby. Zhenya glanced around her group confidently that they would be able to take down Yuzu’s team. They had to for the simple fact that Yuzu would never let her live it down if she lost. 

….

Yuzu didn’t understand this game at all. Scott had tried to explain it to him before they started but it still didn’t make much sense to him so Scott had eventually told him to stand in the middle and throw the ball at whoever was standing with a tennis racket to hit it and catch it if anyone were to throw it at him. Said skater would then run around the course with bases ranging from swinging ropes to vaults to a beam and a trampoline at the end that they had to summersault on to score a point but they could get out if they weren’t on a base by the time that Yuzu caught the ball from one of the ‘fielders’. 

Turning to the first person in line Yuzu saw Zhenya there clutching the racket looking very determined to hit the ball and do well for her team and he couldn’t help but laugh at the furrow between her brow as she concentrated. Yuzu adjusted the ball and how it sat in his hands as he attempted to look professional and as though he knew what he was doing. The first time he threw the ball it went crazy wide and was only caught by Wakaba who had been tasked by Scott the unofficial leader of the team to catch any balls that the hitter missed. She threw it back and Yuzu caught it easily before throwing it underarm towards Zhenya who made contact with the ball perfectly in time to the downbeat from the poppy music that Tessa had set to emit from the speakers. 

She flung the racket down as the ball went hurling away from her leaving Boyang to sprint after the ball in an attempt to stop Zhenya in her tracks. She grabbed onto one of the ropes and swung herself across from bench to bench like some crazy Tarzan before flinging herself at the next apparatus as she tried to make her way around as fast as she could. She had only just hopped off the ground and onto the next this that Yuzu didn’t know the name of but consisted of 2 wooden frames joined together by a metal pole when Yuzu spotted the ball hurling towards his head and caught it bringing a stop to her movements. 

He bowled successfully for the next few rounds and even surprised himself with his catching abilities as clearly the coordination and awareness that was required for figure skating helped when it came to catching balls and he couldn’t help but feel smug when he was able to catch Nathan out when the American skater ran too far and was caught on the ground by the time that Yuzu successfully caught the ball. Indeed the only ball that he dropped was when Zhenya threw herself into a summersault at the end and she rolled off the crash mat laughing her hair messed up and falling out of her ponytail and Yuzu couldn’t help but wish that she would be this happy normally. 

That missed ball, however, ended up giving a number of points away as the next two people behind Zhenya replicated her feat with less grace before Yuzu was able to reclaim the ball but as a result Alina who had been wrecking havoc in her assigned area of the sports hall was assigned to bowl whilst Yuzu was relegated to being merely a fielder. It was harder work as fielder as he had to run now to get the balls instead of merely waiting for someone to lob it at him and his contributions seemed significantly less appreciated now. When Kaetlyn caught a ball that had been hit by Gabby the last skater in the first rotation of Zhenya’s team rendering Gabby out Yuzu couldn’t help but want to replicate this to prove that he was the best at this game. 

His turn came in the next round when Zhenya hit the ball high up in the air towards him and he could hear the blood rushing in his ears as he ran forwards to catch the ball towards the first apparatus where the ball seemed as though it was to land. He had just lunged to catch the ball not taking his eyes off of the little neon green object when he felt himself collide with something with a heavy thud. Hands dug into his arms as the momentum carried him round spinning as Yuzu tried to work out who he had collided with. 

It was only when he landed on the ground with the other skater holding on tightly to him as they fell rolling slightly to break their fall. It was only when they stopped moving with Yuzu lying on his back with the other skater on top of him that Yuzu was able to squeeze open his eyes. He had collided with Zhenya which wasn’t surprising in hindsight considering that he would have been running towards the first base and Zhenya from the first to the second. 

As Zhenya blinked her eyes open a few seconds after Yuzu had he saw her pupils expand as she took in her newfound situation. “Hey,” he whispered after a few moments towards Zhenya when she didn’t move her dark hair falling loose as she must have untied it shielding them from the rest of the skaters.

“Hey,” Zhenya murmured back and he could see the flecks within her dark brown eyes and feel her weight resting on him. She moved forwards shifting her weight onto her hands, which rested on his shoulders and Yuzu, could see her lips moving closer to his and he couldn’t help but think that maybe she was going to at last kiss him on her own accord. 

She hovered right above his face for a few moments and Yuzu could feel the warmth from her breath tickling his face before Zhenya pushed off one of his shoulder forcing herself to her feet pushing back her dark hair out of her face and as she stood Yuzu couldn't help but groan as he was left on the ground. Only now aware of everyone else who had turned to watch Zhenya and Yuzu’s fall to check whether they were okay Yuzu quickly took Zhenya’s surprisingly clammy hand to pull himself to his feet. “We’re okay,” Yuzu said shrugging trying to divert everyone’s attention. “But that had better make Zhenya go out.” 

“Well the ball is still on the floor,” Zhenya pointed out as the ball Yuzu had been running for rolled neglected into the corner of the gym. At the same moment, Yuzu broke to run for the ball whilst Zhenya flung herself onto the climbing frame in order to escape being stricken out and scrambled up as high as she could. As Yuzu threw the ball towards Alina badly though the younger skater jumped into the air in order to catch the ball he couldn’t help but wonder how Zhenya was so relaxed whilst Yuzu could still feel Zhenya’s weight resting on him and the feeling of her breath tickling his skin. 

…

By the time the two teams had swapped who was fielding three times so that Yuzu’s team were batting for the second and final time Yuzu had completely lost count of the score for either team so when Tessa and Scott blew the whistle to end the game after well over 45 minutes of the game he had no idea which team had won. Regardless by the time they had reached the end both teams were mucking about showing their best tricks on the trampoline with their jumps getting ever more complicated with Gabby winning the unofficial contest with a one and a half pike back from her gymnastic days. 

Gathering his team together they all stood together Yuzu confident that his team had done whatever they could do to win through a combination of their athletic prowess and teamwork. “You are going down,” he called out towards Zhenya who was flanked by Gabby and Satoko as her team positively strode into the centre like some type of military organisation. 

“Fierce words,” Zhenya said raising an eyebrow and not looking very impressed by him and his show of bravado. “But my team obviously took that.”

Scott and Tessa split off from both teams to whisper towards each other as the official scorekeepers for each team they were responsible for pronouncing the winning team and Yuzu couldn’t help but be nervous about whoever would have won the competition for no logical reason. “The winners of this competition are Zhenya’s team by a narrow margin of one and a half points over Yuzu’s team.” they finally announced amidst the triumphant shouts from Zhenya’s side with them all celebrating loudly. Part of Yuzu was annoyed about losing but as he glanced across towards Zhenya who was laughing as she was wrapped in a massive group hug and her team celebrated and he couldn’t help but feel that he wouldn’t mind loosing more frequently if it meant that Zhenya looked that happy and triumphant again. 

He had just torn his eyes off her turning away towards the rest of his team when he heard the sound of running feet and he looked back to see Zhenya standing behind him, “Congrats.”

“Thanks,” Zhenya said fiddling with her hair absentmindedly. “So how does defeat feel?” she taunted but she seemed happier than she had done for weeks and Yuzu couldn’t help but feel like hanging out with all the skaters with no tension was helping her. 

“Unfamiliar,” He teased back but he had lost more often than Zhenya had in the last few seasons. “But if I had to lose I’m glad it is to you.”

“Funny that,” Zhenya responded her tone sarcastic. “Considering there are only two teams competing so for you to loose I’d have to beat you.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but grin at that and he nudged his shoulder against Zhenya’s in a friendly teasing manner, “Well obviously I was just holding back to let you win and otherwise would have easily been able to secure that last rounder so that we could tie.”

Zhenya didn’t make a smart reply to that but instead erupted into laughter beside him and he couldn’t stop a small smile from making its way across his face in a reaction to her laughter and as they left the room together the first of any of the skaters he couldn’t help but feel that with Zhenya by his side and happy that everything was somehow right.


	27. Snow White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter and there is some drama at the end of it and we get to see Yuzu and Zhenya's duet during this again though I have tried to describe it very differently so you guys aren't just rereading the same stuff. I hope you guys all enjoy it and thanks to everyone who had read and enjoyed my storyxxx

Zhenya bounced besides Yuzu in time to the dull beats that were being emitted from the speakers as they waited for Javier, Patrick and Scott to finish and Yuzu couldn’t help but smile down at her. She seemed to be a bundle of nerves regarding their performance in a few minutes and Yuzu couldn’t help but find it endearing. “You okay there,” he whispered to Zhenya trying to assess how she was as he never knew. 

“Yeah,” Zhenya said between bobs and Yuzu could see the hair around her face starting to slip out of the braids that held her hair out of her face. “I’m just really nervous about whether we are going to do it this right as I want everyone to like it.”

Yuzu shrugged confused, “It is amazing last time everyone said that our duet was the highlight of the night because no one expected it. You killed it last time and there is no one else in the field who is able to emote like you can.” 

“I guess,” Zhenya said her movements subsiding but Yuzu could see her hands knotting together in thought. “I just have a lot on my mind and don’t really feel in the right headset for the performance.”

He couldn’t help but frown at this as Zhenya never tended to have any problems when it came to performing and nerves and her mental game was almost certainly the best in the competitive circle. “This isn’t because of any of the stuff that is going on with us because that’s the opposite to what I want for you.” He didn’t want Zhenya to feel awkward when it came to putting on a character and leaving all of her emotions on the ice, as she was wont to do. 

“It’s not that. It’s stupid,” Zhenya said glancing down and Yuzu couldn’t help but want her to look up and meet his eyes. He was about to say something to her when he heard the last notes of Viva la Vida reach the backstage and the crowd erupt into cheers signally the end of the earlier routine. “We need to go now,” Zhenya said still not meeting Yuzu’s eyes and he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in her head as she strode forwards on her skates towards the rink to get onto the ice. 

He hurried after her knowing that they had to get on the ice soon and hoping to see if he would be able to get a word into her before they took the ice. Brushing past Javi who shot him a concerned look after Zhenya had positively marched by the three of the skaters who had just left the ice and Yuzu couldn’t do anything but smile as confidently as he could before following Zhenya. 

She had already set herself up on the ice with her pink dress fluttering around her with every breath as Yuzu took of his guards and stepped onto the ice. “Is everything okay?” he called across the rink as he skated past Zhenya and into his starting position. 

There was no response from Zhenya and instead the flutes and violins started up and as Zhenya started to move Yuzu reluctantly pushed off his right skate into his first movements. He could tell that there was something going on with Zhenya as she didn’t commit to her movements in the manner that she normally did and her arms, which she normally placed to perfection, were sloppy. Yuzu could feel himself coming out of the performance as instead of embracing his persona as king of the dead who was luring Zhenya’s Dido into death he was just concerned about her craning his head to see her even when the choreography had him doing other movements. It probably wouldn’t have been a surprise then when Yuzu fell on his first jump his usually consistent triple axel. Zhenya glanced back at him to see him on the ground surprised her extended lines being cut short and Yuzu pushed himself up quickly knowing that the music was quickly approaching the bit when they joined together for Zhenya to pull of the mask. 

Zhenya yanked off the mask somewhat limply before dropping it to the ground and moving on to the next movement as she started to flee from Yuzu as they spun to the music that was increasing in tempo. Yuzu had just taken his eyes of Zhenya to do a small twizzle when he heard a small grunt in pain and when he opened his eyes he saw Zhenya on the ground. He had no idea what had happened but based off of the small felt mask that he could see on the ice by her right foot she had clearly skated over it and slipped. Yuzu continued his movements trying to work out what to do and he heard the crowd quiet down around him as they tried to work out what exactly was going on. 

He didn’t know himself as he expected Zhenya to be up on her feet within moments but Zhenya was just lying there on the ice and Yuzu couldn’t help but think that she must have hit herself on the head. He wanted to stop the music and look after but when he glanced back to see Tessa on the side she nodded her head to push him into movement and Yuzu re-joined the music again as it started to climax and the crowd around him started to cheer. His movements became faster and more frenzied as the music grew louder and he threw himself into a quad toe-loop as the song ended timing the routine so that he could drop to his knees to finish besides Zhenya as though to pretend it was all deliberate. 

It was only when the lights turned off that Nathan skated onto the ice with swift sure strokes to join Yuzu. “What happened to her,” Nathan murmured as he seized up Zhenya who hadn’t moved since Yuzu had seen her on the ground. 

“I have no idea,” Yuzu said honestly as he grabbed one of Zhenya’s arms trying to work out how to get Zhenya off of the ice. “I think she slipped on my mask and hit her head—if she got the right angle it wouldn’t take that much pressure and I think that she had a lot on her mind.” 

“We need to get her to a hospital,” Nathan said his tone serious as he grabbed Zhenya’s other side and with Yuzu’s support they started to move Zhenya forwards slowly off the ice. 

Getting to the edge of the rink Yuzu saw Tessa and Scott standing by the rink and he only now realised that Nathan was wearing his costume for the final number, as the show wasn’t over yet. Reaching the edge of the ice rink he passed Zhenya over to Scott and Javier who carried her limp body off the ice and backstage. Turning back to Tessa who had just clapped Nathan on the shoulder he couldn’t help but demand, “What are we going to do next?”

“We need to get Zhenya to the hospital and everyone else will finish the show,” Tessa said and Yuzu could hear how her voice had gone higher in pitch as she stressed out. 

Yuzu nodded once resolutely, “I’m going to take her to the hospital—it makes sense as I speak Japanese.” He tagged the last part on as he could see Tessa looking slightly unconvinced with his idea. “Then you guys can finish the show and meet us at the hospital afterwards.”

“You sure?” Tessa questioned and Yuzu found it strange to be reminded about how completely normal she was when she was stressing out about what to do. Normally he and the others viewed Tessa and Scott to almost be something other than two young adults. “Everyone is here to see you.”

Glancing back to where Javier and Scott had disappeared Yuzu found the decision easy, “Certainly besides they are here to see the show, not me.” Tessa looked disbelieving at that but Yuzu didn’t care and instead, he brushed past all of the skaters who were starting to assemble as he looked for Zhenya. 

Her limp body rested on the sofa and Alina was perched on the ground looking terrified, “Is she going to be okay.”

“I have no idea,” Yuzu said glumly regretting that he hadn’t seen was had happened as Zhenya seemed badly hurt. “You need to get on the ice though as the final routine is about to start.”

“I can’t leave her,” Alina protested incredulously. 

Yuzu smiled at Alina knowing how the younger girl felt but also knowing that she was needed on stage and ought to finish off the show especially considering that he was baling out early, “Don’t worry she’ll be fine I won’t leave her side.”

…

Those optimistic words were wrong Yuzu couldn’t help but think as he sat by Zhenya’s hospital bed. Upon arriving at the hospital with Zhenya he was immediately recognised and mobbed by everyone and whilst it meant he was able to get Zhenya priority treatment he had been forced to take pictures and signatures with both patients and doctors. 

When he had finally been reunited with Zhenya he had been told that she didn’t have an incredibly severe head injury based off of the swelling but also that they didn’t understand why she wasn’t waking up. She looked peaceful lying there though still in her pretty dress from the show and Yuzu realised only now that he too was wearing his costume from their duet meaning that the pair of them must look a right state compared to any other patient or visitor.  
Pulling out his phone whilst he waited he found himself checking twitter to see what people were posting in relation and he could help but sigh at the screen grabs that had emerged of him leaving the ambulance behind Zhenya in a stretcher. Moreover, in the comments, people were either saying they were together or that she had hurt herself to attract his attention. The thing was, however, Yuzu wouldn’t mind the silly rumours if there was no truth in them like the rumours that had surrounded Yuzu and Javier for so long but with Zhenya he almost wanted their insane theories to be true because that would mean he was dating Zhenya since back before Pyeongchang. 

Upon hearing a sound from the mound in the centre of the bed that was Zhenya Yuzu jolted forwards to see every detail of her face before realising that nothing had changed. Instead of taking out his phone again Yuzu instead wormed his fingers into Zhenya’s hair as he started to undo her hair. It wouldn’t make a difference in regards to her concussion and head injury but the tight braids looked painful and he wanted to avoid the risk of any physical pain on top of her hurt head when she woke up. 

He had done the same task once before when she had cried herself to sleep but now she was utterly non-responsive and Yuzu couldn’t help but be terrified that she might not wake up and the doctors had missed something. For how pale and waken her skin was her hair was soft he couldn’t help but notice and the braids themselves mostly slid out of her hair once he undid the hair ties. Even once he had finished with her hair though he didn’t want to let go of her relishing the touch of his palm against her cheek whilst he finished the last remaining knots in Zhenya’s here and he sighing slightly moved forward robbing them of any to Zhenya’s skin. 

He didn’t move away from her though and continued to peer over Zhenya analysing her features close enough to count every freckly and each individual closed eyelash. She reminded him of snow white from the silly fairy tale in the hospital bed and her long dark hair the colour of ebony as she refused to wake up as though she was enchanted though there was nothing massively wrong with her. He couldn’t help but remember how Snow White had ended up waking up as it took her kissing the prince to rouse her from her spell and Zhenya’s lips looked so inviting. They had been soft for those few seconds that they had kissed only a few days ago before Zhenya had pushed him off her and as they sat there slightly open Yuzu couldn’t help but feel compelled to kiss them.

He leant over the bed angling his head towards Zhenya but when he was only a few inches away he changed his minds and instead swung his head so that he only ended up giving Zhenya a chaste peck on his forehead, He stared into her closed eyes for a moment or two hoping for something to happen but nothing did and Yuzu was about to make sure that the private room was truly private and determine how much this would all cost when he heard a stirring on the bed. 

Turning even before he had realised what had happened Yuzu stared at Zhenya whose breathing had started to increase in frequency and as he watched Zhenya’s eyes started to blink themselves open slowly. It took her a few moments before she was able to speak and Yuzu waited for her to focus in on her surroundings. “Are you okay?” Yuzu asked softly.

Zhenya’s eyes look terrified and she shrunk into the head of the bed and something in Yuzu twisted in confusion at her response, “Where am I,” she asked her tone slightly hysterical. “What’s going on?”


	28. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter and I am sorry that it is late but I fell asleep whilst I was writing 'o'. I felt very torn about this chapter based off some of the stuff in the grapevine and that I saw the pics of her with Kristian who is my smol bean from last years eurovision and they were adorable together but these two were my favs first. This is an uber cute chapter imo and I just wated to reitterate that this is all fantasy and for me to improve my wrting and keep into figure skating throughout the offseason. I hope you guys enjoy and thanks to everyone who is reading and and can I just say that is sooo cool that people around the world are reading my story as I have people from Brazil and Russia at least reading which is crazy for me .

Everything was blurry around Zhenya as she blinked her eyes open and she couldn’t make out any of the details that surrounded her. “Are you okay,” a voice said from beside her and it was incredibly loud piercing into her brain and she could hear her head throbbing from the pain. 

Blinking Zhenya pushed herself back into the headboard away from the voice as the details started to focus in for her. She could see on the far wall characters which weren’t from either the Russian or even roman alphabet and as she peered she couldn’t help but think that they were Japanese, “Where am I?” She asked the voice that had emitted from beside her as she tried to work out what to do. As the features of the owner of the voice started to focus in she recognised it to be Yuzu and she seemed to be lying in a hospital bed. “What’s going on?” she asked slightly desperate and she could feel her pulse racing. 

“It’s okay,” Yuzu said softly but his quiet voice was too loud and he reached a hand out but Zhenya brushed it away. Everything around her was so loud with Zhenya able to hear the nurses and patients interacting throughout the ward. “Do you remember anything?”

Zhenya thought back trying to work out what was her last memory but all that it did was make her head throb even more. “Viva la Vida,” Zhenya said at least remembering the tune in her head as the melody played through her head. “Scott, Patrick and Javier skated to it

“That’s good then as they were the act before us,” Yuzu said and Zhenya thought he looked reassured in comparison to Zhenya who seemed to have no recollection. “Do you remember nothing after that about our duet or you hitting your head.”

“Not at the moment,” Zhenya said shaking her head hoping that the nurse would come along with painkillers or drugs so that her head would stop feeling as though someone was twisting a hammer within her skull. “I’m sorry but I have no idea about how the performance must have gone.”

Yuzu grinned at Zhenya before reaching a hand out to brush a curl that had fallen in front of Zhenya’s face behind her ears and she couldn’t help but start at the feeling of his cold hands that dulled the ache between her temples. “Don’t worry Zhenya I remember the performance well enough for the pair of us,” something crossed his face and Zhenya couldn’t help but squint at him confused her mind still foggy and painful. 

“How was the performance,” Zhenya asked thoughtfully trying to pull together what had happened when she had hit her head as Zhenya never fell and she had never fallen hard and hurt herself. 

Laughing at her question Yuzu let his hand slip down from her temple to the side of her beat and Zhenya felt her headache return with full vengeance, “It was awful—you were stressed out and I was distracted. I had fallen earlier in the program on my triple axel.” He paused in thought and Zhenya nodded as though to encourage him to speak wanting to get more details about the night. “Once you had fallen I had to keep on skating around you as though to pretend it was part of the show.”

Zhenya paused trying to work out how to put the feeling that Yuzu’s words had conveyed to her, “You were scared.”

“Out of my mind,” Yuzu confessed smiling at her and Zhenya couldn’t help but be happy that she had been able to recognise his emotions so well. “I couldn’t help but feel that by continuing the routine after you had fallen I made stuff worst as it delayed any medical aid.”

“What did you do then,” Zhenya asked confused by his statement. “Did you just dance around whilst I lied on the ground.” In her head she could just imagine Yuzu skating around her whilst he killed time waiting for the end absolutely terrified.

“Maybe,” Yuzu admitted and Zhenya couldn’t help but erupt into giggles before stopping as they made her headache even worse. “Are you okay—do you need painkillers.” 

Zhenya shook her head slowly unwilling to say anything because the throb in her head was ridiculously painful but she didn’t want to take painkillers because they would dull her senses. Regardless of her accident part of her didn’t want to move from her spot on the bed with Yuzu on her side and wanted to experience every moment. 

Yuzu frowned at her slightly, “You’re really pale Zhenya and I can see you grimacing. Let me just catch one of the nurses so they can put a blunt on the pain.”

“I’m fine,” Zhenya murmured weakly to Yuzu trying to stop him as he tried to call over a nurse to take a look at Zhenya reaching out a hand to stop him.

Yuzu cast a dubious look at Zhenya before rising to his feet, opening the door and saying a few words in Japanese that Zhenya wasn’t able to understand. She could normally understand the odd word but at the moment she was struggling even with English, which was far better than her Japanese. “They’ll be here in a second,” he said turning his gaze back towards Zhenya and the tangle of blankets that she was lying in. “So you be good and let them take care of you because my nerves won’t be able to handle it if something happens to you as a result of any of this.”

Zhenya grumbled slightly at the fact that Yuzu had gone right above her head and just ignored everything that Zhenya had said but she couldn’t argue with him being concerned about her, “I’m fine I promise.”

A petite Japanese woman entered the room and Yuzu closed the door behind her before setting himself back down in his chair besides her bed. “Shut up Zhenya,” he said his voice teasing. “Let me—the nurses take care of you.”

Zhenya pouted, as though she was still just a child, “Fine but don’t go anywhere.” She didn’t want to be left here alone and vulnerable without even being able to talk properly with the nurses and doctors in Japanese.

“I won’t,” Yuzu said taking one of Zhenya’s outstretched hands and holding it in his warm one rubbing thumb against her knuckle comfortingly. As Zhenya watched him Zhenya couldn’t help but feel the nurses cold hands on her other side as she quickly assessed Zhenya and fiddled with her iv drip that had been set up. Yuzu’s glance drifted away from Zhenya and towards the nurse and a flash of understanding crossed his face. “I’ll be here until you wake up I promise.”

His touch was reassuring and Zhenya felt so warm and like her mind was swimming in toffee. She was about to open her mouth and question him about his statement when she felt her eyes close and her mind spiral into sleep. 

…

By the time Zhenya finally woke up again the lights were on in the room with the curtains open and flowers covered the dressing table with stuffed toys at the end of the bed. The other skaters must have brought her gift box from the show to the hospital to decorate her room and she couldn’t help but grin at the considerate gesture. By her side Yuzu was still sitting and he was still holding onto her hand but he had fallen himself and was lying with his head resting on Zhenya’s hospital bed lightly snoring. Zhenya couldn’t help but smile at him glad that he hadn’t left her though he would probably get a neck crick if he were to sleep much longer.

Glancing at the clock on the wall Zhenya tried to work out the time to work out how long she was here but Zhenya had no ideas when she had actually arrived here and how long it had been both before she had woken up for the first time and how long she had been asleep before waking up now. 

Yuzu stirred against her but he didn’t wake up completely and instead just turned his head around as he repositioned himself. Part of Zhenya couldn’t believe that he had stayed here with her whilst she had been essentially knocked up until he had even fallen asleep himself. It was no surprise though in a way considering that he had been right by her side for the last few days and been there for her as much as she could. 

It was that which was making everything so hard for Zhenya at the moment because if he hadn’t been so sweet and considerate then her decision would have been easy to not forgive him and to just relegate him to be a friend. Everything would be better if she could do that as especially with them training together neither of them could afford to be distracted and it should be easier. The only problem was that Yuzu was doing his best to not let her do that and Zhenya couldn’t decide what she wanted anymore. Everything had been so obvious before—at the start of the tour she’d known that nothing could happen and then even when he had hurt her Zhenya knew that she wouldn’t let anything happen. But now Yuzu seemed to be pushing for something to happen in his unassuming manner and Zhenya could feel her willpower crumbling away with every day and she wasn’t sure how long she could keep this going. 

That was why Zhenya could remember she had been stressing about the performance as how she was supposed to act had been on her mind constantly. Back when they had performed it before it was fine cause Zhenya understood the status quo and could perform it with everything that she had in her delivering each movement with ease but with everything that happened the lines between her and Yuzu had become blurred and Zhenya couldn’t perform completely without risking everything that was in her coming out and Zhenya needed to be in control when she stepped on that stage. 

Yuzu’s enthusiasm for sorting her out hadn’t helped there for whilst his concern was endearing it just added to Zhenya’s confusion until by the time she reached the ice Zhenya had too many moving parts in her mind meaning that in hindsight it probably wasn’t even that surprising that she had ended up falling. She still couldn’t remember anything from when she had stepped on the ice though but it was only a few minutes of memories that Zhenya was missing and not several hours or days like it could be as she could have gotten fully fledged amnesia when she had hit her head. 

A nurse bustled in and started rattling things off in Japanese and Zhenya couldn’t help but nod confused unable to actually understand what was going on and as the nurse startled to fiddle with things Zhenya couldn’t help but freak out not knowing what was happening and what the nurse was going to do to her. “Yuzu,” she whispered her voice hoarse as she tried to wake him up so he could translate the Japanese but he didn’t respond and Zhenya felt her heart rate increase as she tried to work out what to do. 

The nurse unclipped the brakes on each of the corners of the bed before pushing it into movement and it was only then that Yuzu woke up as his head slipped off Zhenya’s mattress and instead hit the plastic of the bed. Sitting up again rubbing his head slightly in pain Zhenya saw his eyes widen as he took in everything that was going on and he pushed himself to his feet looking slightly dazed. In comparison to Zhenya who was sitting on the bed helpless and the petit nurse Zhenya couldn’t help but think that he looked incredibly powerful considering his slight frame and rhinestone embossed regency style shirt. 

He uttered a few words in harsh sounding Japanese towards the woman who seemed to recoil under his touch and released Zhenya’s bed to turn towards Yuzu to answer what Zhenya was almost certain was a question. The woman snapped back in Japanese however with a look that seemed to imply that his question was redundant and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh to see Yuzu put in his place by the woman. 

“What’s going on,” Zhenya asked at last once the stand off between the pair of them had ended.

Yuzu glanced back now at Zhenya and his expression softened before he asked a few more questions in Japanese to the woman whose response was less severe this time and she may even have smiled at them both. “Apparently they want to get you checked over once more and then they will send you back to the hotel but you need to be careful and can’t hit your head again like this.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed nodding though she wasn’t sure how long she would last before she would be back on the ice again and she couldn’t help but relax knowing that they weren’t doing anything serious to her. The woman returned to pushing the bed and Yuzu asked one more question and the woman merely shook her head and Zhenya shot a confused glance at Yuzu hoping he would translate.

Yuzu frowned slightly before smiling when he noticed Zhenya’s gaze, “They’ll be taking you now but I can’t come with you so I’ll see once your done and hopefully discharged okay.”

Zhenya nodded feeling something fall within her as she left the room with Yuzu standing in the now empty room and she couldn’t help but feel that it was too late for her to build back those walls between her and Yuzu.


	29. Interrogations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter and i hope you all enjoy. Javier the ultimate matchmaker strikes again ad Zhenya's girls are here for her again. Not loads of Yuzhenya direct content but a little at the end and quite a bit on each of them individually as this is a relatively long chapter for me at least. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and will see you tomorrow.

“Zhenya can I talk to you,” Javier asked peaking his head around her open door. After the tests she had been allowed to go back to the hotel as long as she stayed in bed for the rest of the day and was watched if not all of the time but at least relatively frequently. Yuzu had just nipped out to go to the bathroom as his need for the loo had taken over and she had been sitting in her room scrolling on her phone impatiently.

The news of her hospital trip with Yuzu had already made it to both Russian and Japanese media as some of the nurses had posted about Hanyu and his girl who he had rushed to the hospital worried sick. Then she had been identified as the girl who Yuzu had entered with and her Instagram was on fire with comments coming into it constantly. “Zhenya,” Javier prompted entering the room.

“It’s nothing,” Zhenya said shutting down her phone quickly. “What can I do for you? Yuzu will be here in a few minutes he just wanted to go to the loo and get something from his bedroom.” She wasn’t quite sure what Javier was doing here because whilst she got along with him they weren’t exactly friends. 

“I’m not here for Yuzu Zhenya,” Javier said pausing dramatically and Zhenya couldn’t help but want to throttle him. “I need to talk to you.”

“Why,” Zhenya said moving as she propped the pillows up behind herself so that she could settle into the bed more comfortably. “What’s up?” She had no idea what he wanted but Zhenya didn’t think that it was good. 

Javier sat down at the end of her bed staring down at Zhenya and she couldn’t help but shift within her covers, “What are you doing with Yuzu”

“What do you mean,” Zhenya asked confused feeling something heavy drop into her stomach as she guessed what Javier was referring to. 

He bit back a laugh, “Zhenya you are a smart girl and you didn’t hit your head that hard when you fell. You know what I’m talking about.”

“The fact that he kissed me,” Zhenya said matter-of-factly unwilling to dance around the subject matter and instead choosing to get straight to the point.

Javier’s mouth opened and he looked shocked, “Yuzu kissed you?” His tone was disbelieving and Zhenya would have struggled to hold back a laugh if she wasn’t still unsure about what Javier wanted from her. “What happened then?

“I pushed him off me and told him that I couldn’t do that at the moment,” Zhenya said her voice emotionless as she relived that moment in the empty room. It had been so hard for her in that moment but she had done the right thing for herself even if now she might be reconsidering.

If Zhenya had thought that Javier was shocked before now he was stunned, “He must really care about you then.” Javier sounded certain and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel a flush rising into her cheeks.  
“What do you mean?” Zhenya asked pushing to get more details from Javier as she didn’t understand completely what he was getting at and the logical reasoning that he had used. 

Javier laughed before running a hand through his hair as he leant back slightly in his seat, “Yuzu is the proudest guy that I know and he wouldn’t normally put himself in a place to be humiliated again so if he’s risking that then he must be head over heels.” 

Zhenya nodded trying to put Javier’s statement into context in her head and it made sense. Yuzu was almost as proud as she was so it wasn’t exactly surprising, “You know Yuzu really well.”

“That’s why I am here,” Javier said pushing back to why he had chosen to visit Zhenya. “I need to talk to you about how you are dealing with Yuzu because he is one of my closest friends and you need to decide.”

“What do you mean?” Zhenya asked for what seemed to be the fiftieth time. She was so slow at the moment and couldn’t pick up on all of the subtext from what Javier was saying and Zhenya couldn’t help but blame it on her concussion.

Javier rolled his eyes frustrated, “I said similar things to Yuzu a couple weeks back but you need to work out what you want from Yuzu.” Zhenya squinted at him to show her confusion at the situation. “He likes you so the real question left is what you think.”

“I have no idea,” Zhenya said fr¬owning. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do in this situation because she wasn’t used to this drama because Eteri had kept them all closeted up and had been strongly against any inter-group relationships. She had dated Moris for all of 6 weeks when she had been 13 but that was it. “I was angry at him and hurt for a while but now I’m not sure.”

“Yuzu would do anything for you Zhenya you know that right. He literally has done everything that he could to suck up for the last few days,” Javier pointed out and he was right. Zhenya could still see Yuzu by her side when she had woken up in the hospital and sat on the ice with her to discuss their program. 

Zhenya looked down knowing how stupid what she was going to say was, “That’s the problem Javi though. If Yuzu acted towards me the way he did at the start of the tour it would be so much easier.”

“He was acting like that because he was confused,” Javier said simply and Zhenya nodded at him to continue his statement. “Yuzu my boy was consumed literally with jealousy and indecision.”

“Because I hung out with Nathan,” Zhenya answered trying to fill in the rest of Javier’s statement and make it make sense in her head. “That only started because the girls thought it would be a good idea because they knew that I had been crushing on Yuzu for months if not years.”  
“You only hung out with Nathan to make Yuzu jealous,” Javier said sounding indignant and Zhenya couldn’t help but blush crimson at his crass way of phrasing it. “You used both boys.”

Zhenya knotted her hands together under the duvet, “It wasn’t meant to work out the way that it did—I couldn’t help but end up really close to Nathan as we were so compatible as friends. I didn’t want to use either of them and it just started to spiral out of control massively.”

“Zhenya all due respects but this is massively fucked up,” Javier said straight off and Zhenya felt like a really crappy person. “So do you like Yuzu or not because if you don’t please can you just leave him alone because you have been messing him up.” Zhenya didn’t say anything and Javier ended up barking at her repeating his question. 

Finally, Javier fell silent beside him and Zhenya felt compelled to fill the blanks and with the gaze that he cast on her she had to talk, ”Yes I do—are you happy now.” She’d had a crush on him since she was just a little junior and in this respect, there was nothing she was able to do that would stop that or get in the way despite the fact that she knew better. 

“No,” Javier said calmly now and he reached out an arm to touch Zhenya’s right knee that like the rest of her was quivering under the contact. “You need to take action Zhenya—Yuzu took the lead last time and as much as Yuzu might like you he won’t try to kiss you again unless you do.”

Zhenya nodded serious, “What should I do then because i don’t want to do the wrong thing and humiliate either of us.”

Javier leant forwards so his weight rested on his forearms, “Don’t worry Zhenya it’s simple enough if you just.—“ he paused in mid-phrase cut off by the door Javier had likely closed starting to creep open. 

….

Yuzu kept his steps light as he hurried back to his room wanting to finally change his clothes out of his bejewelled shirt into some plain black training gear and he needed to go the loo. He hadn’t wanted to leave her anyway but he had texted Javi to see if he could be able to keep an eye on Zhenya as considering what the nurse had said the 48 hours after a fall were the most dangerous. 

Reaching his room Yuzu grabbed his phone from the charger and glanced at his notifications. They seemed to all be coming from a twitter source who was claiming that she had seen Yuzu and Zhenya together in the hospital. Yuzu couldn’t help but hate all of this rubbish especially considering that this was utterly platonic. He would have taken any of the skaters to the hospital if they had been injured and Yuzu thought that his presence might help. Though remembering how he had pecked Zhenya’s forehead whilst she had been unconscious that wasn’t exactly a sibling thing to do.   
Yuzu shook his head as he pulled off his shirt trying to shed these thoughts about the public with it as he cast the shirt aside. All that mattered was how he and Zhenya felt and Yuzu couldn’t deal with everyone trying to dictate their life onto him—he’d won a second Olympic gold so they could let him fly under the radar for one offseason surely.

Throwing his training clothes on top Yuzu checked his phone to see a smiley face from Javier who must be with Zhenya now. Yuzu trusted that guy more than he did anyone else except possibly at times Zhenya so he felt himself relax. Swinging the door open Yuzu found himself hurrying through the corridors until he felt his arms grabbed by a pair of small seemingly feminine hands and was spun around. By the time he was able to take in his surroundings, he saw Gabby and Wakaba standing in front of him looking deadly serious. 

“Is Zhenya back,” Gabby asked her arms folded and her gaze imprudent. 

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed not really listening but more just plotting his imminent escape. “She’s in her and Alina’s room at the moment—Javi said he’d watch her.”

“You asked him to,” Wakaba asked perceptively and Yuzu nodded not sure at what the girl was getting at but like normal Yuzu knew that Wakaba’s sharp tongue was probably just trying to stitch him up. 

“I just wanted to make sure she was okay and the nurse told me to make sure someone is watching her at all times and Javier is one of the most level-headed guys around. 

Wakaba went to say something but Gabby cut her off with a sharp look before saying, “What’s going on between you and Zhenya because that program and her fall was because she looked stressed out and we are not going to stand here and watch her get hurt.”

“I have no idea,” Yuzu said completely honestly. The entire situation utterly bamboozled him because he didn’t understand what he was supposed to do next—what was the protocol to do when you were in a situation like the one he seemed to find himself in all the time now. “She knows that I care about her and it's up to her now.” His voice was bitter by the end of the sentence and as much as he understanding Zhenya’s reasoning her choice still hurt him because he was trying so hard now to live up to her expectations for him and even exceed them. 

Wakaba frowned, “Does care mean like a friend or something more.”

Yuzu couldn’t help but be angered by this question and he could feel his pulse throbbing throughout his body, “I kissed her and told her I loved her and she said she needed more time—is that clear enough for you.” Once he had said the words Yuzu couldn’t help but regret it Zhenya probably wouldn’t want anyone to know about the truth and that evening.

“Shit,” Gabby swore glancing at Wakaba as though she didn’t know what she was supposed to say anymore. “I’m sorry—We didn’t know.”

Yuzu smiled in acknowledgement of Gabby’s apology, “It’s okay don’t worry you guys are just looking out for Zhenya.” They were just good friends to the girl and he couldn’t hold that against them or even Zhenya.

“You are whipped,” Gabby said laughing teasing Yuzu and whilst part of him was slightly hurt he made a show of laughing alongside them. Ever since this had all been happening Yuzu had found himself becoming increasingly melancholic and he missed how light-hearted he had been.

Wakaba who had been silent for the last few exchanges spoke up at last, “What are you going to do because Zhenya has been crushing on you since we were on the JGP circuit together.”

“What I’ve been doing for the last few days,” Yuzu said honestly. “She’s trusting me more than she did and we’ve been becoming closer and even her fall brought us together more I think. I just need to hope that it is enough.” 

“You seem to have it sorted,” Gabby said and the pair of them looked as though the tirade and plan for the speech hadn’t been carried out. 

Yuzu laughed at that checking his watch, “I wouldn’t say that but I need to go if that’s okay with you two.”

The pair shared a glance before nodding towards Yuzu. “Is it because of Zhenya,” Gabby said before the pair left for good turning her head over one shoulder and Yuzu wasn’t able to do anything but nod. 

Leaving the two girls he hurried towards Zhenya’s room and noticing that the door was slightly open he approached it to enter but before he could say anything Yuzu heard his name from inside the room and he paused against the wall trying to determine what Zhenya and Javier were talking about. 

He could only catch the odd phrase or two but he could catch Zhenya’s response to Javier asking if she liked him and he fought hard to restrain the natural fist pump that Yuzu wanted to do upon hearing her affirmative answer and he felt lighter then he had done for weeks. However, in his happiness, he misbalanced himself until he found himself spiralling into the door pushing it open slowly to reveal Zhenya and Javier looking very serious though the had both completely stopped talking once Yuzu had entered which considering the circumstances was more than a likely occurrence to happen. 

“Hey Zhenya,” Yuzu said coolly not trying to let on that he had heard Zhenya’s statement from outside and conceal the joy that he had felt. 

Zhenya looked up at him smiling charismatically at him, “Hey Yuzu.” In the background, Yuzu knew that Javier had left but with Zhenya in front of him smiling Yuzu couldn’t look anywhere else or bring himself to care.


	30. Exhibition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 30 of Operation MYRJ and I realised whilst writing it that this chapter encompasses several milestones for me as it marks the one month mark since i started writing this story and as the word count is about 65 000 l the minute that is incredible as the most I had written in a month beforehand was 50 000 words and that was nowhere near as much of a complete story as this is. 
> 
> I have also reached both 250 comments and 10 000 hits which is freaking crazy because I can't believe that you guys all care so much. 
> 
> I love the fact that you have all been telling me your nationalities as it is so cool that there are readers from countries like Russia, Philippines, Brazil, Indonesia and Italy as I haven't even visited the majority of the countries and so being able to form a tyle of community with you guys who I probably will never be able to meet irl through the comments is awesome. (If I have missed a country just pop it in the comments)
> 
> Sorry that this is soo long but I couldn't help but feel really emotional knowing that the story is almost over and this crazy month of writing is going to be at an end now and the results of it have been beyond what I ever could have expected. I hope that you guys all enjoy this chapter as it should give you what you guys all want.

“You sure you are better,” Yuzu asked dubiously and Zhenya felt herself bristle under his concern, as she was sick of being treated like an invalid. First, she had a broken foot and then she had a concussion and she had told everyone she was okay and the mandatory 48 hours of rest had past so Zhenya wanted to take to the ice. Tessa had agreed that if Zhenya was able to put together an exhibition in time than they would add it to the show but that meant that Zhenya would need to with Yuzu’s help work really hard and if Yuzu wanted to coddle her then Zhenya might struggle to be ready in time. 

 

Zhenya tightened her skates for the last time before standing up to meet Yuzu, “I’m fine don’t worry Yuzu.”

Yuzu arched an eyebrow as though to suggest that he didn’t agree with what Zhenya had said but he didn’t say anything to contradict her, “Did you choose the music yet because we need that if we want to take the choreographic ideas we came up with last time and start to mould it into a complete routine.”

“Yeah,” Zhenya said pulling her phone out and opening up Spotify. “Do you want to listen?” She had spent forever going through music on her phone to find the perfect song—this was her first ex as an adult away from Eteri and it had to say something about who she was now.

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed and Zhenya could see curiosity in his eyes as well as something else that she didn’t want to identify. “What did you choose?”

Zhenya sighed casting a frustrated gaze back towards Yuzu as she fiddled with the speaker system whilst she tried to hook her phone up, “I’ll tell you in a sec once I get the speaker system to work.”

“It’s not complicated,” Yuzu said teasingly stepping forwards so that he was behind Zhenya and she felt her hairs stand on end in reaction to his ominous presence. A large cracking emitted from the speakers as Zhenya pressed a button and she couldn’t help but jump before she heard Yuzu’s chuckle behind her. Stepping forward again so that now he was alongside Zhenya he reached his hands out over Zhenya’s to guide them into position. “It’s really easy if you think smart,” 

His breath tickled Zhenya’s neck and ear as he spoke as he was unnervingly close to her and his hands felt as though they were burning hers and Zhenya couldn’t help but fancy that were she to pull them out from under Yuzu’s they would be emblazoned with red burn marks. “I’ve got it,” Zhenya hissed finally shaking Yuzu’s touch off. 

“You sure,” Yuzu taunted and Zhenya glanced to the side to see his face right by hers and she could feel his phantom touch on her fingers as she moved them deftly working out what she had to do now. 

The music came on with a vengeance at last booming through the sound system and Zhenya refusing to look away from Yuzu whispered even though she knew he probably wouldn’t be able to hear her over the music, “Yes.” She stepped away from Yuzu then unsure of what she would do if she stayed close to him again.

 

As the song played all the way through Zhenya couldn’t help but smile at the lyrics as they fitted almost completely with her story and her trials throughout this season. “Are you sure?” Yuzu questioned. “This song will be divisive you have to know that.”

“I know,” Zhenya said her voice somewhat cold and emotionless. It had been a hard choice and the song she had ended up choosing was deeply personal to her conflict with Eteri and the last season but as she heard Demi Lovato belt out the lyrics to Warrior and the empowerment that she offered Zhenya knew that she couldn’t regret choosing this song. 

Yuzu shrugged though Zhenya could still see his concern written across his face and she couldn’t help but smile at it, “It’s your choice Zhenya but if you are going to do this you had better completely commit to this performance as this is your chance to tell your story.”

“I know,” Zhenya repeated. She had to make this program right as it would let her tell her side of the story without needing to utter any words or engage with Eteri or even the press. 

“Then what are you waiting for,” Yuzu said jokingly turning towards Zhenya as he seemed to try to improve the mood between the pair of them. “Get on the ice already.”

Zhenya laughed before with a few short steps reaching the ice and she pushed on gliding easily across the expanse of ice and she could hear Yuzu clattering behind her without needing to say anything as the song repeated itself over and over again. She turned back to face Yuzu taking a few steps backwards, “So what should we start with.”

….

She wasn’t getting this. It wasn’t the choreography and Yuzu’s input was all excellent and whilst it did push her it was very much still a program in Zhenya’s style with the heavy narrative train throughout it. For whatever reason, though either Zhenya was forgetting the movements or she wasn’t doing them to the level that Zhenya expected herself to be doing them at or the program just didn’t work and Zhenya wasn’t able to put in her own character into the movements. 

The program looked good and Zhenya could see that in the mirrors but it was supposed to be special. It was supposed to be her comeback skate and her chance to embrace her haters and her fans equally and celebrate whoever she had become as a result of this season. But the girl Zhenya could see in the reflection as she skated wasn’t a ‘Warrior’ but just a teenager who wasn’t good enough and even as Zhenya skated the steps right there was none of the triumph or even vulnerability that Zhenya knew she had to bring everything to this program if she wanted to accomplish everything that she knew it could. 

Restarting the music Zhenya started the program again but she had only skated half a minute before she lost her speed on a spin and came into a sedate stop opposed to the fiery power that this song demanded. Restarting again Zhenya lasted even less this time stopping for no other reason other than just catching a glance at her reflection and disliking the shape that her spiral created as she didn’t have enough speed and her leg wasn’t high enough. Restarting yet again Zhenya only managed three steps before she tripped over of her skates due to her frustration and impatience sending herself crashing down to the ground.

Hitting her knee hard Zhenya couldn’t help but let out a cry and she had only just looked up her hands cradling her bruised knee when she saw that Yuzu had skated into her eyesight. He had been silent as she had gotten frustrated but he was here now. “Are you okay,” Yuzu said concerned crouching down before her.

“Physically yes,” Zhenya responded disgruntled. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t get this routine to work and it was taking a toll on her and making her mad which meant that in turn, she couldn’t focus properly on the delicate and crucial footwork that had been choreographed into her routine. 

Yuzu frowned scrunching up his face at Zhenya,” What’s wrong then.” He offered her a hand that Zhenya used to hoist herself up—her knee was still slightly tender and would be bruised but it was working and okay whilst she was in motion. 

“I can’t get the steps right,” Zhenya said frustrated. “And there’s nothing behind them.” 

“Well I’ll make sure that you know the steps,” Yuzu reassured. “And Zhenya you can tell any story with your movements and this is your story so you will get it I promise you just have higher expectations.”

Zhenya nodded glumly as Yuzu’s comments did make sense even if she didn’t like it, “Sure.”

A grin light up Yuzu’s face in the pale glow from the ice rink and Zhenya couldn’t help but smile in response. “Let’s go then,” Yuzu prompted. “Do it without music and just take it slow—we don’t need to work on polishing it yet.” 

Zhenya nodded obediently before reaching her starting point. Instead of focusing on the music or what her face or body should convey Zhenya just focused on making sure that each step was right carefully placed with the right edges and part of her shoe making contact. Every so often Yuzu flitted forward to adjust her when she went from movement to movement focusing on making sure that her arms whilst being floating and artistic where also direct and served a purpose. 

His touch was boiling though much like when they had been whilst Zhenya had been fiddling with the speaker system and Zhenya regretted opting to wear a tank top due to the warmth even on the ice as she could feel her exposed arms goose bumping as Yuzu moved his hands away from her skin in between each jump. By the time came for Zhenya to reach her final position she posed waiting for Yuzu to give her the all-clear before she could repeat it. He skated behind her making some final adjustments before relaxing having finished the run through, “You doing better,” he murmured from behind Zhenya as he seemingly adjusted Zhenya’s arms and he was so close that Zhenya could almost feel the vibrations as he fixed her position. 

“It’s still not perfect,” Zhenya complained. It had been a lot easier to rehearse when she was going slower but she needed to get it up to speed fast. 

Yuzu laughed as he skated around to face Zhenya who was looking down her eyes slightly averted and towards the ground, “More haste less speed Zhenya—do you want to be the hare or the tortoise.”

“The tortoise because it wins, ” Zhenya said plainly whilst Yuzu erupted into laughter. “But I hate holding myself back even when I’m injured. 

They both glanced down with at each other’s feet and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel that they should open a club for all the maimed skaters like them. “That’s my girl,” Yuzu said his tone carefree as he glanced up triumphant. “This time Zhenya do it to the music but don’t add anything more as we just want to train that muscle memory so you can add the emotions without thinking about your movements.”

Zhenya nodded obediently before returning to the centre of the stage keeping her mind clear and her focus strong. Having skated it all the way through once incredibly slowly her feet knew what they were doing and whilst she did lag occasionally she was able to catch up with the music each time and she kept on fighting to get it right. Glancing back at Yuzu once she was done he nodded once and Zhenya could feel his eyes on her as she began her program for what seemed like the hundredth time.

She had to repeat it 4 times more all the way through and whilst Zhenya couldn’t help but be tired as she need to succeed this year with Brian and this was her first step towards producing the beautiful programs that Brian’s skaters would often put out. “Now go full out Zhenya,” Yuzu instructed and Zhenya complied feeling as though something might go wrong but unwilling to say anything. 

 

Nodding Zhenya turned the music to the start of the song and feeling the beat surge up within her she started to move. The music was soft at the start and Zhenya matched it with careful delicate movements that focused on careful footwork that got larger and freer and even more out of control as the song continued to mimic the climax that the singer was singing about and the heartbreak she was experiencing. Her movements became bigger and stronger as the vocal line started to soar with the singer belting out the words and as she held out one note Zhenya swept herself into a spin as fast as she could and she could feel everything all of the tension leaving her and being left on the ice. Finally she went into a set of twizzles that would take her across the diagonal of the length as the music went into a climax and her movements toed the careful line between frenzied and controlled with Zhenya merely creating the impression of the frenzied movements and her eyes were closed allowing her to imagine her movements and the next bit in her head.

She was about to move into her finished position when she felt hands grab her around her stomach and spin her into a tight spin together before finishing holding her close on the beat. Blinking her eyes open she saw Yuzu not unsurprisingly considering that the movement he had done was one from their duet and he was the only one on the ice with her. “What are you doing,” Zhenya asked slightly confused and she felt as though his embrace was burning her. 

“I couldn’t help it,” Yuzu admitted not letting go of Zhenya and whilst part of her wanted to squirm Zhenya merely stood in his grasp leaning on his arms to support her. “That performance was perfect I completely understood what you were trying to say and I wanted to be part of it.”

Zhenya couldn’t help but giggle at that, “You will always be part of my story Yuzu you must know that—despite our ups and downs you have been there for me since I was just a kid emerging onto the circuit.”

“Of course,” Yuzu said an expression crossing his face that Zhenya couldn’t identify completely and he let go of her and Zhenya wanted to be in the warmth of his embrace because as much as it might have burnt her she was freezing without it. “I’ll leave you then if that’s okay you have the choreo completely so just practise and make it consistent,” He addressed these words to a spot beside Zhenya’s ear and Zhenya couldn’t help but frown. 

He was about to turn away but Zhenya feeling as though she was making a terrible mistake as whilst Yuzu’s touch may have burnt her she was freezing without it and found herself reaching out an arm to grab Yuzu’s hand, “What is it--,” he stated to ask in his usual concerned manner that Zhenya found both endearing and infuriating as sometimes she just wanted him to take charge. Zhenya found herself using his hand to pull the pair of them closer and despite her head spinning as though she was intoxicated and possibly a sign that she was still slightly concussed Zhenya found herself pressing her lips against Yuzu’s to shut him up at last.


	31. Explorations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter and I'm sorry it is kinda late and i HAVEN't responded to all of your comments but I've been uber busy so I will do that tomorrow morning. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter which is basically shameless fluff and thanks as always to everyone who reads, kudoses and comments and I hope y'all enjoy.   
> PS. I don't know if you guys have seen but Zhenya has just arrived in Canada and Jason picked her up from the airport and their friendship is the purest thing I have ever seen and I am sooooo excited for Zhenya's future at TC

Their lips had only just touched when Yuzu jerked away as though her touch had burnt his lips, “What are you doing?” His face was surprised and Zhenya could see the shock in his eyes as well as something else that partially thrilled her and also terrified her.

“Kissing you,” Zhenya said impulsively looking up at him and the adrenaline that had filled her when she had chosen to kiss her filled Zhenya throughout. When he didn’t say anything Zhenya couldn’t help but look down uncertain gnawing on her lower lip conscience of her lack of experience in this field, “Did I do something wrong.” 

Yuzu gave out a half laugh and he reached a hand out to touch Zhenya’s cheek and she couldn’t help but shudder slightly under his touch. He stared at her for a few moments and there was something soft and warm in his expression, “You aren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Zhenya asked confused. This was what she thought Yuzu wanted from her after all he had tried to kiss her before and he hadn’t been hiding the fact that he had cared about her in the last few days. He had been so convicted that he loved her at the gala and Zhenya couldn’t see how his thoughts and emotions would have changed so much in just under a week.

Yuzu sighed and he looked frustrated like he was trying to stop himself from saying something and he was holding himself back from moving into action, “Are you sure about this Zhenya. I don’t want to be putting pressure on you.”

Zhenya hesitated for a few seconds and she couldn’t help but feel bad for a few moments but whilst she looked at Yuzu who hadn’t moved away from her and was just watching Zhenya. His gaze was soft and the opposite of intimidating or pressurizing with his warm hand resting on her cheek and she didn’t regret her actions. “Yes,” Zhenya said at last her voice resolute and stronger than she felt inside.

She had scarcely completed the word when she saw Yuzu bending his head down and pressed his lips against hers. His touch didn’t burn Zhenya like it had earlier but instead it gently warmed her and whilst it didn’t have the pent-up passion that his kiss after the gala had been it was full of quiet longing and recognition. Yuzu paused for a few moments pulling away from Zhenya to glance at her as though he could check whether he was doing the right thing and Zhenya nodded at him fervently before leaning back up to remake contact with Yuzu’s lips. 

His hands moved away from Zhenya’s cheek and one wound itself into her hair whilst the other tightened around her waist to pull Zhenya flush to his chest and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh against his lips at the way his hand splayed out across her back. Pulling her own hands up Zhenya wound them around Yuzu’s neck catching his soft dark hair in her fingers. 

He swayed under her touch and as he took a step back but they were still on the ice and his skate caught on the ice sending him slipping backwards. Zhenya tried to autocorrect her position but it was too late and before Zhenya realised it they both ended up on the ice with Yuzu breaking their fall with an outstretched arm. “Are you okay?” Yuzu asked Zhenya looking down at her from where she sat on the ice resting on his arm. 

“Yeah,” Zhenya said unable to stop giggling at Yuzu’s face and their situation with the pair of them sitting on the ice together having fallen over. “You have ice in your hair.”

Small flakes of the ice that sat on the surface of the rinks had gotten caught in his hair when he had fallen and the bright white colour of them stood out against the darkness of his air. He shook his head ruffling his hair as though he was trying to shake the ice flakes out of his hair before he glanced up between the strands of hair that had fallen into his face concealing his eyes slightly, “Is that better.”

“No,” Zhenya said laughing and she reached up the hand that wasn’t supporting her body weight on the ice to pick out the flakes. His hair was ridiculously fine and as the ice chips melted into his hair slightly damp and she could almost feel Yuzu’s smile without being able to see it considering that her arm covered her face. “Hold still.”

“I’m trying,” Yuzu said laughing. “It tickles.”

Zhenya frowned at Yuzu mock-seriously but she couldn’t stop herself from bursting into laughter after a few moments, “Stop acting like a child.” 

Yuzu pouted petulantly and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh at this as they finally were acting like they had been when they were just friends and Zhenya couldn’t help but be glad that the tension that had built up had dissipated and instead they were almost like normal but with something more. Zhenya was about to use her hand that was still in his hair to pull him closer to kiss him again when she heard heavy footsteps and the door to the ice rink opening the door. 

Yuzu looked at her nervously and Zhenya found herself calling out in a surprisingly calm voice, “Who is there.”

“Gabby and I,” Nathan said his voice with its strong American accent filling the rink. 

“It’s Nathan,” Zhenya whispered to Yuzu who glanced at her as though Zhenya’s statement was obvious. Zhenya upon realising the imminent situation she rolled over off of Yuzu’s arm and pushed herself to her feet whilst Yuzu stayed on the ice as though he was frozen into it. 

Nathan rounded the corner with Gabby by his side and Yuzu looked up at her after a few seconds in reaction before glancing up at Zhenya and standing up to stand beside her. “I didn’t realise that you guys were here together.”

“Yeah,” Zhenya agreed whilst Yuzu beside her asked, “Why are you surprised?” Nathan glanced at the pair of them confused about them both speaking and disagreeing about their statements and Zhenya cast a baleful glance towards Yuzu unable to stop remembering how easy it had been only a few moments ago.

“We were working on my exhibition together,” Zhenya said answering the question and trying to brush over their disagreement and Gabby hid a giggle behind a hand from where she sat next to Nathan in reaction as they started to put their skates on and Zhenya couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she tried to work out whether Gabby had picked up on the change in dynamic between Zhenya and Yuzu. 

“Of course,” Gabby said smirking with her laughter finally under control. “I’m sure that you two were very professional.

Yuzu stirred from where he stood besides Zhenya and she reached out a hand to grab his wrist and she could feel him relax under her touch. Zhenya then turned her glare to Gabby who arched an eyebrow at Zhenya as though to challenge her and Zhenya struggled to hold back her impulse to retort at Gabby considering that Nathan didn’t seem to have picked up on the situation.

“We got a lot done,” Yuzu said finally in a measured tone that sent thrills throughout Zhenya and she couldn’t help but wish that Gabby and Nathan weren’t here. “Her exhibition will be ready for our last performance.”

“That’s amazing Zhen,” Nathan said grinning at Zhenya warmly and she could feel her grip on Yuzu’s wrist change as Yuzu took charge wrapping his fingers around her hand possessively and Zhenya could help but grin at his touch. “We have the ice booked right now if you guys are done.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed glancing at a clock hanging on the wall to see that it was five minutes past the time at which they were supposed to finish and they had finished working on her exhibition a while ago and they weren’t exactly being considerably effective for the last ten to fifteen minutes of their session. 

Yuzu grinned at this statement, “We’ll see you later then.” He pulled Zhenya off of the ice slightly behind him towards the edge of the ice to let Nathan and Gabby take the ice. 

“Cool,” Nathan agreed standing up with his skates tied up whilst he waited for Gabby to finish fiddling with her skates. “Hurry up,” he chided quietly and Gabby couldn’t help but giggle her hands slipping over the pale laces. 

“Perfect,” Gabby said finally standing up and taking a few steps past Nathan so that she was almost level with Zhenya and Yuzu. “Have fun the pair of you,” Gabby teased from where she stood in front of Zhenya’s face waggling her eyebrows suggestively. 

Zhenya thwacked Gabby with her free hand lightly as though to put her in her place “Shut up Gabby.” She didn’t want to deal with the other girl stirring up trouble as she didn’t know how she was supposed to tell people about the situation that was going on between her and Yuzu. Hell she didn’t know what was going on between them—it had been an impulse thing and it was only approximately 20 minutes old. 

“We’ll catch you two at dinner okay,” Yuzu said sounding slightly frustrated at the situation and he headed off the ice so that he could remove his skates and Zhenya trailed after him grinning at Nathan as she passed him and she ducked to escape the hand that he had outstretched to ruffle her hair. 

Nathan joined Gabby on the ice and they skated out to the middle of the rink and Zhenya sat down on the bench besides Yuzu whilst they removed their skates so that they could leave. 

“That was awkward,” Zhenya stated as she ran her hands along the skates as she loosened the laces so that she could untie them easily.

“Understatement,” Yuzu said pulling his skate off and his skate slipped out of his grip hitting the ground and Zhenya reached across to pick up the skate and pass it towards Yuzu. He took it slowly before shoving it into his back his hands careful to ensure that he wouldn’t drop the skate again. “You weren’t embarrassed were you?”

Zhenya looked down at her skates as she eased it off her foot delicately, “By you—why would I be.” As she said this she could see her reaction to Nathan and Gabby turning up and how she separated herself from Yuzu as fast as she could in slow motion unable to stop reliving it again. 

“Really,” Yuzu said slightly dubious his hands pulling on the laces hard going down the skates to loosen them quickly each movement harsh and emphatic. “You kinda seemed like you were awkward.”

Zhenya shook her head earnestly as though to counteract Yuzu and to convince him of her honesty and that she did care about him because she did. “It’s nothing I just want to control the time when all of this information comes out.” Yuzu glanced at Zhenya as though to question her statement and work out what Zhenya was getting at. 

“The second we do anything like this in public or tell the other skaters we can’t put this back in a box,” Zhenya explained with everything in her head making sense. “I get so much shit about my move to TCC and stuff like that so I don’t want to just become some boy crazy fanyu.”

“You are not a fanyu,” Yuzu said warmly pulling his skate bag onto his shoulder as he pushed himself to his feet and outstretched an arm towards Zhenya to help pull her up. “You don’t regret kissing me though do you.”

His features were delicate and soft as they gazed at Zhenya and she could see his hesitation and uncertainty that was written across his face and she couldn’t help but feel empathetic for the situation and bad for making him doubt himself because whilst he was just over four years older than herself he looked just like a child. “Not at all,” Zhenya said taking his hand to hoist herself to her feet and she adjusted the bag with her bag hitting against her side. 

Yuzu grinned at Zhenya and she couldn’t help but feel her heart pound faster in her chest in response to it and she couldn’t help but feel simply relieved that finally everything between the pair of them made sense. He used her hand to pull Zhenya in towards him and tucked her in under his arm whilst they walked out of the ice rink and Zhenya could help but feel comfortable and secure. He leant down and Zhenya could feel his breath tickling her ear and she fought back a laugh before shutting up as he whispered, “Well in that case the secrecy element only makes this better.”

“You sure about that,” Zhenya said grinning at Yuzu and she couldn’t help but feel a rush running through her in reaction to his words as she felt herself imagining what Yuzu was talking about. 

Yuzu ran his fingers along her shoulder in the deserted corridor and Zhenya felt her hairs stand on end in response, “Absolutely certain.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 32 and deals with all of the details between Yuzu and Zhenya's relationship that haven't been elaborated on and them working out how their relationship will be going forward. I hope you guys all like it and thanks as always to everyone who reads, comments and kudos because I really appreciate all of you guys<3<3

“Yuzu what are you doing,” Zhenya hissed and Yuzu couldn’t help but smirk as he used her arm that was in his grasp to pull her close in the secluded changing room. He didn’t say anything and instead just bent his head forwards to kiss her. It had been too long since he had last been able to snatch her away as whilst he had swung by Zhenya’s room last night her and Alina had been fast asleep and Yuzu didn’t want to wake her up. Regardless he had seen her as they headed to a meeting that Tessa and called and had been unable to stop himself from grabbing her arm and pulling her into the deserted changing room knowing that all of the other skaters would be heading towards the ice rink.

He pressed his lips against Zhenya hard and he could feel all of the built up tension from not being able to spend time with Zhenya earlier throughout the day and instead just catching glances of her without being able to actually say anything to her. Winding his hands around her he took a couple steps forward until Zhenya grunted slightly as her back made contact with the wall. Zhenya reached her arms up to knot her fingers in Yuzu’s hair and he couldn’t help but moan slightly at the contact from her cold hands against her scalp. 

Yuzu released her lips slowly before slipping his head to the side to press hard kisses against her neck. “You need to stop Yuzu,” Zhenya said after a few moments and Yuzu could feel her hands within his hair tugging to push his head away from her . “We can’t do this here.”

Pulling away Yuzu glanced down at Zhenya whose cheeks were flushed and her hair was dishevelled but he stayed close with his body flush against hers, “You sure.”

Zhenya sighed ruefully before pushing himself to her toes and pressing a light kiss to Yuzu’s lips but she ducked back down as soon as Yuzu could react, “Unfortunately yes—we have to be at the meeting Tessa called and we are supposed to be keeping things on the down low which means you can’t just drag me off into a random room.”

“But I really enjoy dragging you into abandoned rooms,” Yuzu complained reaching out a hand to tuck a few strands of her hair back behind her ear to make the younger girl look more put together before trailing one finger across her cheeks and he could hear Zhenya’s breath hitch in response to the contact.

She leaned in as though to kiss Yuzu again but before their lips could connect Yuzu started away from Zhenya upon hearing the door creak open. Their gaze both followed to the door to see Wakaba enter the room. “There you both are,” Wakaba said glancing from the pair of them before blushing slightly. “What are you guys doing here together.”

Zhenya glanced at Yuzu and he couldn’t help but panic knowing that this was the opposite to what the younger girl wanted and he glanced around the room looking for a way out. His searching gaze finally settled on his skate bag that he had dropped onto the bench when he had pulled Zhenya in with him so that he could have both arms free. “Zhenya just came with me to pick up my skates.”  
Wakaba nodded slowly and whilst she looked confused Yuzu felt a surge of hope filling him that Wakaba would buy their story, “Why did you leave your skates here—I thought you were surgically attached to them.”

“I…I was skating this morning and thought I would pick them up later in time for the meeting now because no one uses this room other than me,” Yuzu said thinking fast on his feet and Zhenya glanced at him in relief and Yuzu was glad that he had done the right thing. 

Wakaba tilted her head to one side as she assessed the situation, “Are you guys going to go to the meeting then because Tessa sent me to look for you.” 

Zhenya nodded fervently as though to convince herself of the statement more than anything else and Yuzu struggled to hold back a smile at her earnestness, “Of course we are.”

Turning on one heel Wakaba pushed the door open and stepped through it holding it open in turn for the other two of them. Zhenya stepped ahead of Yuzu picking up her skates that Wakaba had conveniently not noticed lying on the ground and Yuzu picked up his skates before following Zhenya out. Zhenya hurried forwards to catch up with Wakaba but before she could Yuzu found himself leaning forwards to whisper into her ear, “Until later.” Zhenya blushed crimson and skipped forwards a few steps until she linked arms with Wakaba with Yuzu lingering slightly behind the pair of them unwilling to interfere further. 

…

“What is going on with you,” Alina said perceptively as Zhenya compulsively folded all of her clothes needing to keep her hands busy. “You have been acting really weird lately.

Zhenya glanced down at the bed as she schooled her features into surprised and confusion in response to Alina’s question and surprised her urge to be suddenly defensive, “What are you talking about Alinka.”

“You’ve been off in the last few days,” Alina explained fiddling herself with her clothes as she started to pack up her thing. The last show would be in a day and then they would be back in Russia by the end of the week. 

Zhenya frowned she had thought that her acting skills were better than this and couldn’t help but be impressed that she had picked up on their situation. “Really—What have I been doing.” If she could work out what had aroused Alina’s suspicion then she could prevent anyone else from picking up on it because even if no one else had noticed Zhenya felt intrinsically different compared to even just yesterday. 

“Smiling,” Alina joked, and Zhenya turned to send her a playful glare confused at what the younger girl was getting at. Zhenya was always one of the cheerful happy go lucky ones who helped to bring the entire group together whether it was back at Eteri’s or on the international circuit. “It’s not like that but you seem more relaxed and I dunno I guess it sounds stupid.”

Zhenya sat down on her bed so that she could face Alina so that she could talk to her more seriously, “It’s not stupid Alinka. I guess I have been less stressed out recently and just been focusing on prioritising me.” It was true regardless of the situation with Yuzu as he had been helping her improve her self-esteem and to relax and let out everything cooped inside. 

“You’ve been hanging out with Yuzu a lot recently,” Alina asked sitting on her opposite bed to Zhenya’s and Zhenya couldn’t help but squirm under her gaze and wonder where Alina was coming up with all of these leading questions. 

Zhenya brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ears and she could remember Yuzu’s hands in those same strands just this morning, “It’s nothing we’re just friends.”

“Wakaba and Gabby sounded convinced otherwise,” Alina said lightly but her eyes were fixed on Zhenya as though she was waiting for Zhenya to slip up. 

Zhenya swallowed hard trying to stall Alina’s question for as long as she could whilst she worked out what she wanted to say to Alina to dissuade all of her questions and hopefully convince everyone that there was nothing between them. “You know those two though,” Zhenya asked injecting a light-hearted air into her statement, which she didn’t feel as Zhenya was more than a little bit terrified. “Gabby and Wakaba are always all over any tension romantic or otherwise—all that’s happened is I’m hanging out more with Yuzu because we’ve gotten over our argument.”

“He was very protective over you when you hit your head,” Alina pointed out drily and Zhenya couldn’t help but flush and wish that her memories regarding her fall were clearer. 

Zhenya shrugged, “ It’s not as though I remember that Alina I was unconscious.” 

The younger girl burst into giggles, “Relax Zhenechka I believe you if you say that nothing is going on but Gabby and Wakaba might be less easily convinced.”

“Well I’m glad you believe me,” Zhenya said injecting false positivity into her voice as she felt a pang hit her from lying to the younger girl who she counted amongst her closest friends. Zhenya glanced around the room to see that all of the clothes had been folded as she sought an escape.

She needed to talk to Yuzu about all of this because they clearly were rubbish at remaining inconspicuous. Besides they still needed to decide about the situation and what was going on with them—were they even dating or was it something else that was going on between them. “Is it okay if I go to chat with Gabby and Wakaba about this,” Zhenya said lying through her teeth again.  
“No worries,” Alina said shrugging reaching out to grab her phone from where it was plugged in to the wall charging her phone. “I’ll catch you at dinner because you’ll have to take forever with both of those girls if you want to shut them up.”

Zhenya laughed pushing herself to her feet, “Totally.” As she left Zhenya couldn’t help but glance back at Alina who was scrolling on her phone and felt guilty knowing that Alina would be hurt to know that Zhenya had been hiding the truth about Yuzu and her relationship but she would tell her Zhenya told herself. It would just be after Zhenya sorted out her actions in regards to Yuzu and wanted to make it public between the pair of them.

….

“What are you doing here,” Yuzu asked from behind his open door. He couldn’t help but be confused as to why Zhenya was coming here considering that he shared the room with Shoma who could be here at any moment. 

“Can you let me inside,” Zhenya said glancing up to meet Yuzu’s eyes and he could see a sense of urgency within hers and he complied quickly pushing the door open to let Zhenya in who quickly closed it behind her. “We need to talk.”

“Sure,” Yuzu said stepping a few steps backwards and sitting himself down onto his bed. “Do you want me to text Shoma to make sure that he doesn’t come in for a bit.”

Zhenya glanced up gratefully, “If you could that would be great.” Yuzu grabbed his phone and quickly punched out a text to Shoma asking him to stay out of their shared room for half an hour or so and smiled upon seeing his phone ping with Shoma saying he was hanging out with Nathan and Boyang and playing Fortnite.

“So what is it?” Yuzu asked softly confused by her coming to his room before gesturing for Zhenya to join him on his single bed. “Is there something wrong at the moment cause I didn’t expect you to come here.”

Zhenya folded her legs together Indian style as she thought about the question and Yuzu could feel the cogs turning within her head, “We need to work out what is going on between us because we haven’t actually spoken about anything in regards to what we actually are.”

Yuzu squinted at Zhenya confused about what she was talking about this because he hadn’t predicted this when Zhenya had turned up as he had thought that whilst their arrangement was unorthodox it was okay as they both cared about each other. “Did I do something wrong,” Yuzu asked at last trying to work out what Zhenya wanted.

“No,” Zhenya laughed nervously uncertain. “It is just Gabby and Wakaba have already been talking to Alina and they think that there is something going on between us.”  
Yuzu’s eyes widened as he tried to take in everything that Zhenya was saying as her words rattled along out of her due to her nerves. Decoding everything that Zhenya had said after a few moments Yuzu reached out an arm to rest it on Zhenya’s knee in order to calm her down understanding why that’d stress her out. “It’s okay Zhenya—if you want we can stay apart at least until we get to TCC and you chose to make this public okay. I was irresponsible this morning but I couldn’t resist it.”

Zhenya’s gaze softened as she looked at Yuzu and he couldn’t help but breath out slowly in relief, “I don’t want that though Yuzu and it wasn’t all you this morning and I kissed you first didn’t I.”

“So what do you want Zhenya?” Yuzu asked confused about what Zhenya was getting at as this just confused him.

“I have no idea,” Zhenya said grabbing Yuzu’s hand that rested on her knee and she squeezed it slightly and Yuzu couldn’t help but shiver at the coldness of her hands. “I’m just scared about what is going to happen if they find out about us.”

Yuzu smiled at her use of the word ‘us’ as it associated the pair of them together as one group. “You don’t need to be afraid Zhenya. I promise that I will be there to defend you and I’ll be there for you if that’s what I want.” He paused thinking about his words as Zhenya stared up at him. “You do want there to be an us though because we haven’t spoken about that at all.” His words made it clear about his thoughts but he wanted to check that he wasn’t making any presumptions in regards to whatever was happening between them. 

 

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” Zhenya said trying to keep her tone light-hearted but Yuzu could see her seriousness and earnestness from where she sat in front of him. “I want to give whatever this is a go at least properly—we might need to give each other space when it comes to TCC and training but I want to make this work if we can.”

Yuzu reached out an arm towards Zhenya and used it to pull Zhenya close so that she could rest her head on Yuzu’s shoulder, “We’ll make it work Zhenya okay. Besides when we are at TCC the rules that work there will ensure that none of this stuff will leak until we’re ready.”

“Are you sure?” Zhenya asked curious looking up at Yuzu and Yuzu couldn’t help but smile at her uncertainty. “It’s not that I’m embarrassed about you or anything you must know that.”

A laugh escaped from Yuzu at Zhenya’s statement and the absurdity of her statement, “Of course I know that Zhenya—if anything it is all my fault that you are scared about everyone’s reaction.” He could already imagine everyone’s reaction were he to come out officially as having a girlfriend especially if it was Zhenya who was universally known throughout the figure skating world who followed Yuzu and he wasn’t surprised that the prospect of that stressed her out.  
“It’s not your fault,” Zhenya said not looking up to meet Yuzu’s eyes and instead she just rested her head on Yuzu’s shoulder and Yuzu liked feeling her steady warmth beside him and using his right arm he pulled her as tight as he could beside him content to just have Zhenya beside him even if no one outside of their small room was allowed to know.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter of the story and I hope that you guys all enjoy this story and where it is going as it starts to wind down. I'm loving writing this Yuzhenya fuff actually as normally I'm not a massive fluff writer so I am really looking forward to writing some new stuff for these two out of this story. I hope you guys like it as I really like this chapter and it's really long and I will see you all tomorrow <3<3<3

Zhenya shifted in her position knotting her fingers together as she trained her gaze ahead at the screen. Tessa and Scott had gotten the entire group together to watch a skating movie like they did every year, as it had become an annual tradition to find the most outrageous movie for them all to watch. She had wanted to sit next to Yuzu but she couldn’t do that considering that they were supposed to be pretending that there was nothing different between them so she had instead ended up squashed on the beanbags on the ground between Alina and Nathan. 

“Do you know what the movie is,” Alina whispered to Zhenya under her breath as Scott fiddled with the dvd player which wasn’t cooperating with him.

“No idea,” Zhenya responded but she wasn’t really listening to Alina and instead her eyes she was watching Yuzu who had only just entered the room with Shoma chatting aminatedly. “Tessa said it should be good though apparently Scott chose it.”

“It’s Blades of Glory,” Nathan whispered across Zhenya as he had just been listening to them chat. “Scott told me and Boyang yesterday because we were nagging him.”

Zhenya nodded in response and she heard the buzz coming from the television as it lit up to show the title credits as Scott let out a small whoop before Tessa dragged him down to join her on the arm of her armchair. There wasn’t much room in the room to fit all of the skaters so every available surface had people sitting down on them with heaps of bodies on the two sofas, three armchairs and the bean bags that covered all of the ground space. 

“Have either of you guys watched it,” Alina asked sounding slightly uncertain. “Is it a good movie.” 

“It’s quite good I watched it a few years back,” Zhenya answered her thoughts still 7 meters away from the situation and towards the small coach which Yuzu was sitting on alongside Shoma, Javier and Boyang. 

Alina was about to say something in response when the movies opening credits and Nathan hissed at them both urging them to shut up and she folded her hands together and used them to prop up her chin as she watched the movie.

…

The movie dragged by painfully slowly and Zhenya struggled to keep her eyes on the tv. She felt as though she was being suffocated between both Nathan and Alina who were both laughing about the movie whilst Zhenya wasn’t quite in the mood to appreciate the rather caustic humour and shennangians that were going on on the screen as her thoughts were whirling around in her head out of control. 

She had no idea what was going on with Yuzu at the moment. Zhenya wasn’t good at this whole relationship thing and her only experience was from when she was 13 and a bit and the relationships in her favourite mediums such as anime. Zhenya knew enough to know that she cared about him more than she could understand completely and that he somehow felt similar if not more so than her as he had been the driving force at least in the beginning. 

The thing that Zhenya didn’t know is that where they could go next. She knew that in the movies and such like the next step tended to be to become officially in a relationship and she couldn’t help but blush crimson at the idea of calling Yuzu her boyfriend. The term didn’t seem real to her as only two weeks ago she had been convinced that nothing could ever or would ever happen between them. 

Zhenya glanced up at Yuzu tearing her eyes from the television with no regret to focus on Yuzu who was watching the movie apparently engrossed in the screen. She found herself imagining Yuzu and her in the outside or in an actual cinema watching a movie together but Zhenya knew that nothing like that could actually happen with them. They wouldn’t be able to hang out in public if Zhenya kept to her expectations and Zhenya couldn’t help but reject that image in her future being forced to hide and deny the rumours and even sit through the new rumours when Yuzu would inevitably be linked with other successful skaters such as even Alina in reaction to them both being the Olympic Champions. 

Yuzu glanced away from the TV towards Zhenya and despite the relative darkness of the room Zhenya was certain that he was looking at her and she couldn’t help but smile feeling her worries rush away. It didn’t matter what they were officially and who knew as long as he was there for her. Zhenya glanced down away from him flushing crimson and trained her gaze on the TV until she felt her phone vibrate against her hip from where it sat in her pocket. 

Pulling it out Zhenya grimaced at the bright light that lit up her face in the darkness and Nathan flicked her shoulder as though to tell her to turn off her phone. “One moment,” Zhenya whispered as she flicked up on her phone to lower the brightness on the screen so it wasn’t so glaring. 

“Sure,” Nathan whispered his face lit up by the white light that made him look gaunt and haggard. “Who is it?” 

Zhenya flushed further and she splayed one hand across the scene to conceal the id as in the few seconds it had been displayed across her screen she had been able to realise that it was Yuzu. “It’s no one Nathan—my mum just wanted to make sure that I was in bed on time because she’s worried about me.”

Nathan nodded turning away from Zhenya and she felt a rush of relief that Nathan had bought it as well as a pang of guilt due to the fact that she was lying to her friends again. Turning her phone back on it vibrated again and when she pressed onto Yuzu’s contact details she saw two unread messages sitting in her messages. 

_I miss you_ the first one said and Zhenya couldn’t help but blush again and she was so grateful that the lights were down as otherwise everyone would be able to see her reactions. Swiping down to see the next one _I wish I could be there next to you_

Zhenya couldn’t help but grin and she glanced up to look at Yuzu who was watching her and Zhenya was glad that the lights were down so she could trace his features easily without feeling self-conscious. 

_Me too_ Zhenya typed into her phone her fingers clicking across the keyboard on her phone with ease, as she couldn’t help but pout in concentration as she waited for the text in response from Yuzu.

 _This is killing me_ Yuzu’s next text responded accompanied by a frustrated looking emoticon that Zhenya struggled to hold back a laugh in response. 

_Tell me about it_ Zhenya answered understanding completely how Yuzu was feeling as the frustrated emoticon perfectly summed up her feelings at the moment. _At least the dark means that I don’t need to pretend not to be looking at you ._

Zhenya heard a laugh from were Yuzu was sitting and her phone vibrated almost immediately _Believe me I noticed_ and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh and Alina glanced at her surprised and Zhenya smiled reassuring as she lowered her phone pretending to be watching the movie but she couldn’t get into it as she had missed the last 20 or so minutes of the plot and all she could see was two guys on the ice skating to each other _I’m bored_ the next text read. 

_Same_ Zhenya said at last un able to look away from her phone and focus on the television despite her best efforts and she could feel Yuzu watching her _I can’t focus on this movie at all._

_Meet me in the bathroom_ Yuzu sent and Zhenya couldn’t help but frown at Yuzu’s text but as she saw the dim light from his phone shut down and him stand up. Glancing back towards the tv away from Yuzu as he approached her on her way out of the room Zhenya felt her heart beat race slightly. He stepped over her Nathan and Alina’s feet and Zhenya felt her feet tense at the slight contact between her and Yuzu and they didn’t relax until the door closed behind him.

Part of Zhenya knew that she shouldn’t get up if she wanted to ensure that no one would find out and that she could protect herself from any backslash but after a few moments Zhenya found herself turning towards Alina and whispering to her that she was going to the bathroom.

“Sure,” Alina agreed and as Zhenya stood up the younger skater moved over so that she was lying next to Nathan in Zhenya’s place and she couldn’t help but smile at the pair of them who were two of her best friends engrossed in the movie.

Pushing the door open Zhenya found herself shivering slightly as she entered the corridor as the living room had been warmed by the collective body temperature and lack of open doors and windows. In contrast the corridor was chilly and with the lights down Zhenya felt her hairs stand on end as she tiptoed through the corridor towards the bathroom. Her phone buzzed again and Zhenya pulled it out her fingers nervous turn around the message wrote mockingly and Zhenya spun on one heel to see Yuzu in front of her. 

It was relatively late and the moon that shone through the window light up his features rendering him looking almost ethereal accentuating his features and the darkness of his eyes. “Hey,” Zhenya whispered after a few moments unable to look away from Yuzu. For the last entire day she had had to stay as far away from Yuzu as she could knowing the she wouldn’t be able to control herself around him and hide her emotions but now that he was here Zhenya wasn’t able to stay away from him.

“I missed you,” Yuzu said repeating the initial message that he had sent Zhenya not 10 minutes ago. He stepped forwards Zhenya until she could count the number of eyelashes and the shadow that they cast onto his cheeks. “Trying to ignore you is so hard—I don’t know how I was able to do it before now.”

“Neither,” Zhenya murmured back to Yuzu under her breath. “Are you aware of how much I struggle to pretend that there is nothing happening between us and to not just watch you.”

Yuzu laughed at Zhenya and his white teeth flashed, “Stop talking and just kiss me okay Zhenya I’ve already had to spend enough time staring at those lips knowing that I can’t do anything about it.”

His tone was frustrated and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh slightly in response as she reached her arms around his necks pushing herself to his feet and kissing him. Zhenya didn’t think that she could ever grow tired with the feelings that kissing Yuzu aroused within her as every time they were different but equally magical. In the quiet darkness Zhenya could feel Yuzu’s pulse against hers and the warmth that he emitted and in the peace Zhenya found herself relaxing at the quiet longing and warm feelings that Zhenya could feel Yuzu sending towards her. There was a forbidden element towards it and the fact that they were in the dark together hiding from everyone that was in the living room only a few rooms away only let her heart rate rush in with adrenaline and her arms wind tighter around Yuzu’s neck as though to hold him closer and to make the best out of their few snatched moments. 

Zhenya pulled away from Yuzu wanting to make the most out of them having any time together away from the others as it felt so rare with only a few snatched moments every day that they could spend together. “Are we together,” Zhenya asked her gaze focused on Yuzu.

“What do you think,” Yuzu asked grinning at Zhenya as he ran his hands through Zhenya’s long dark hair and Zhenya couldn’t help but shiver slightly at the feeling . “The answer may have something to do with where I am currently standing and who I just kissed.”  
Zhenya elbowed Yuzu making contact with his stomach, “Stop being stupid.” Yuzu pouted at Zhenya and she couldn’t help but grin at him in response to Yuzu’s pout. “I just meant what’s do we call this,” Zhenya said fiddling with the fine dark strands at the nape of Yuzu’s neck. He glanced at Zhenya confused by his statement and Zhenya rolled her eyes frustrate, “Like are we dating or is this just hanging out.”

Using one hand he rested it on Zhenya’s cheek and she couldn’t help but be lost in his dark gaze that was fixed on her and soft with more emotions that Zhenya was able to put into words. “I don’t want us to be just hanging out,” his voice was surprisingly low and husky and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel thrills run through her.

“So,” Zhenya prompted leadingly trying to get a clear answer out of Yuzu and to not have him stepping around her question because she wanted to know what was happening between them. “Do you want us to be dating then or what?”

“Of course,” Yuzu said frowning slightly as he watched her looking slightly uncertain about the entire situation that he had ended up in and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel incredibly uncertain as well because she had never had to have a conversation like this with anyone else. “You want that as well right?”

“Well I’m standing here and you have one of your hands in my hair,” Zhenya asked drily reminding Yuzu about his initial response to her question and Yuzu laughed before fixing an unimpressed expression on his face in response to her statement and he nodded as though to prompt her to continue her statement. “I just mean that you don’t need to ask that question because my answer is always going to be yes.”

Yuzu’s smile crossed his face easily and he lit up inside as much as he could lit up within as much as he could be even without the light of the moon from the window. He fixed his gaze on her as he stared into her eyes and Zhenya couldn’t help but shiver unaware of what Yuzu might see within her terrified that there might be something that he might not like within them. Finally, Yuzu bent his head down and Zhenya pulled herself up levering off of her grip around his neck on her toes to meet Yuzu. 

The quiet longing from before had intensified and Zhenya could feel Yuzu’s hands gripping themselves into her hair holding her as tight as he could towards him and Zhenya refused to let go of him to even breath scared that if they parted this moment between them would be over. Finally Yuzu’s phone started buzzing from where it sat in his pocket and after the insistent buzzing Yuzu finally regretfully pulled away from Zhenya and Zhenya could feel her lips feel almost slightly bruised from the pressure. 

“It’s Shoma,” Yuzu murmured towards Zhenya regretfully. “He’s checking where I am because I’ve apparently been in the loo too long—I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Zhenya whispered back even though the corridor was empty and feeling the urge to maintain the element of secrecy between the pair of them. “Should I go back in first so that no one suspects that we were together.”

“Sure,” Yuzu said running a hand through his hair as though he was attempting to tame it and Zhenya couldn’t help but giggle at how dishevelled she had made it. “I’ll text you later okay.”

“Later,” Zhenya agreed but in the solemnity of the deserted corridor it sounded more like a promise. 

By the time Zhenya pushed the door open she still felt as though she was on the moon at the thought that Yuzu and her were officially together even if no one knew. Stepping over a few strewn limbs Zhenya sat down in Alina’s spot as the younger girl had moved to fill the gap when she had slipped out. 

“Are you okay,” Alina asked in her soft tones as mellow music emitted from the TV supplemented by quiet dialogue. “You were in the loo for a while.”

Zhenya ran a hand through her hair aware of how dishevelled it must look now after Yuzu had massively messed her dark hair, “It’s nothing it was just stomach problems—I think my dinner last night was too rich.” Her lie was so hard to make out due to Alina’s obvious concern for Zhenya and she couldn’t help but feel as though this lying game was becoming easier. 

“I’m sorry,” Alina said reaching out an arm to hug Zhenya but she could still hear the door open behind her as Yuzu presumably re-entered with the cold draft of air filling the room. 

Zhenya had only just released Alina and was about to whisper to her about the movie but she felt her phone buzz in its pocket and Zhenya didn’t say anything and instead turned her attention to the television and the romantic scene that was going on.


	34. End of an era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the penultimate chapter that I have planned and I hope that you guys will all enjoy it as it is uber long and ties off most of the plot lines with the last tour for the last chapter which will be coming tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure when that chapter will be out as I will do my best to get it out on time but I am flying to Italy to visit my family that evening as my summer holidays have just started So I’m not 100 % certain whether I will have time to write a chapter so don’t be surprised if my update is a tad late. As always thanks to everyone who has supported this story as it wouldn’t exist without all of you guys caring about what will happen next.

“Are you ready?” Yuzu asked from where he sat sprawled across one of the benches in the changing room that Zhenya had been assigned to share with Alina to enable to the fast changes between acts. Zhenya and Yuzu’s performances were the last of the solo exhibitions and Alina had gone to warm up for her own so Zhenya had thought it would be safe for Yuzu to join her.

Zhenya glanced up at Yuzu her hands knotted in her dark hair as she braided it carefully in preparation for her exhibition, “I’m terrified.” She could feel butterflies in her stomach and she felt slightly nauseous at the idea of everyone seeing her new program and seeing her story and her own journey in the last three months.

“Your routine is good,” Yuzu said his long delicate fingers fiddling with a bobby pin that Zhenya had left out when she started to fix her hair into place. “You perform it well and the concept is good so you should relax.”

Zhenya scoffed slightly and a pin slipped out of her hand only for Yuzu to pass her another one from where it sat on the bench. “Thanks,” Zhenya answered frowning in concentration as she slipped the pin into her hair to hold back some of the baby hairs at the front of her hair. Turning to face Yuzu, Zhenya couldn’t help but smile at his calm exterior, “You make it sound so easy—I guess I’m just scared that no one is going to like it.”

“Well I like it,” Yuzu said grinning easily at Zhenya and she couldn’t help but feel a rush of happiness run through her. “And if they don’t then they clearly have bad taste.” He reached his hand out to pick up a handful of the bobby pins as Zhenya started to pack them up.

“Stop it Yuzu,” Zhenya said slightly frustrated flicking her hand at Yuzu’s to give him a smart hit against his wrist and his hand opened up dropping all of the bobby pins across the floor. “Seriously you’re making a mess.”

Yuzu pouted as like a sulky child and Zhenya was about to apologise for snapping at him but before she could Yuzu opened up his palm to reveal a bobby pin sitting there, “I got one.”

Reaching out trying to grasp it back from Yuzu but he clenched his fist before Zhenya could grab it and she could see his eyes glinting with mirth at her reaction. “You are such a child Yuzu you know that.”

“I’m a pooh,” Yuzu said his face deadpan for a few moments before he couldn’t help but burst into laughter and Zhenya couldn’t help but join in amused by Yuzu’s reaction. 

Gathering control of her emotions, Zhenya ducked down to grab handfuls of the pins to drop them into the small bag that she used to hold all of her supplies for her show makeup and styling. “Aren’t you going to get ready for your exhibition,” Zhenya asked as she pulled out a small compact with setting power to ensure that her makeup wouldn’t smear across her face when she sweated during the exhibition. 

Yuzu laughed running a hand through his dark hair as though to show him preparing himself for his exhibition in response to her question. “I’m ready now,” Yuzu joked smiling charismatically at Zhenya and she couldn’t help but find her frustration waning as she watched Yuzu. “You are really good at doing your makeup and hair you know that.”

“Thanks,” Zhenya said tucking her makeup brush and compact back into the toiletry bad. “It’s not that hard to be honest. I’ve always done my own makeup for competitions.” Eteri had always pushed all of the girls to be independent in competitions as she wouldn’t be able to do makeup for 10 small girls. When she had finally learnt to do it properly without Eteri returning to fix it had been emblematic for Zhenya at least of her growing up and gaining some independence. “It lets me express myself properly if that makes sense.”

Yuzu smiled at Zhenya thoughtfully, “I like that.” 

Zhenya leaned over towards Yuzu as though to kiss him when she heard the door handle start to turn in the door. “Fuck it must be Alina,” Zhenya swore glancing around the room as though to find an escape. Yuzu stood up and Zhenya quickly shoved him so that he was standing behind the door, which was swung open after a few moments, and she could hear him grunt in response to the contact.

“What was that,” Alina asked uncertain looking around the room for the mysterious sound. 

Zhenya’s eyes widened as she thought desperately, “The door creaks a bit I think the hinges probably need to be oiled. What are you doing here?” Zhenya asked trying to turn the tables on Alina and to take herself off of the back foot. 

“Getting a bobby pin,” Alina stated. “Kaetlyn’s panicking because she can’t find any of hers so I said I could grab her one of ours if that was okay.”

“No worries,” Zhenya agreed glancing around for a bobby pin and she picked up one that was lying where Yuzu had been sitting and she realised with some regret as she handed it over that it must have been the one that Yuzu had been so smug about keeping from her that he had dropped when she had shoved him behind the wall. 

“Thanks,” Alina said turning towards the door to leave and Zhenya felt her heart rate start to relax in response to Alina leaving. Alina turned back and Zhenya felt her heart rate skyrocket again, “Are you okay because I heard voices from in here when I was coming in.”

Zhenya’s hand came up to her neck and she played with the skin around her throat as she tried to come up with a response to Alina’s question and she could just imagine Yuzu’s reaction to this question. “I was on the phone to Moris,” Zhenya said desperately naming one of the male skaters from her group when she was at Eteri’s for lack of any other name that was in her mind. 

“How is Moris,” Alina asked light-hearted and Zhenya already regretted choosing Moris to be the recipient of her fake phone call. “The time difference must make it hard to call him.”

Zhenya nodded thoughtfully humming her agreement before saying non-committedly hoping that it would discourage Alina from continuing asking questions, “Yeah it’s hard.” 

“You are not getting back with him are you now that you have left Eteri?” Alina asked and Zhenya felt something sink within her at the question knowing that Yuzu was standing behind the door hidden from Alina’s sight. 

She shook her head vehemently and speaking especially loudly as much for Yuzu’s benefit as Alina’s, “That’s rubbish Alinka I dated Moris for three months when I was still on the junior circuit—we’re nothing more than friends and will never be anything more.”

“Well that’s good considering I’m still rooting for you and Yuzu to make a go of it,” Alina said light and airily as she turned back to the door and twisted the door handle allowing her to step through the door. “I’ll catch you later then Zhenya.”

As soon as the door shut behind her Zhenya could see Yuzu’s face as the laughter he had been suppressing built up and exploded out of him and she couldn’t help but giggle herself from the last rushes of adrenaline. “So I have competition,” Yuzu said having regained control of himself and Zhenya might have been more stressed if his tone hadn’t been as light-hearted and his face been less teasing.

“I was 13,” Zhenya said unimpressed by Yuzu and his attempt at humour. “That was way too close for my nerves to survive encounters like that in the future.”

Yuzu laughed before referencing to Alina’s parting statement and making his eyes look as big as they could as he fixed his gaze on her, “But they are rooting for us Zhenya.”

“Shut up,” Zhenya complained laughing herself in response to Yuzu pushing her buttons. “Do you want me to come over there and wipe that insufferable smile off of your face?”

Grinning Yuzu raised his eyebrows at Zhenya mockingly, “I would like to see you try.”

…

Yuzu straightened his hair out with his hands as he watched Zhenya take to the ice terrified. He had pretended to be cool when he had been in the dressing rooms with Zhenya, as he had known that she was scared but he couldn’t help but be nervous about what was going to happen.

Zhenya’s choice had been divisive. Yuzu was aware of that and he couldn’t help but be slightly afraid of people’s response and for the way that Zhenya would perform it. They had only finished the exhibition 3 days ago and whenever they had found time to spend together they hadn’t been the most focused on her skating and on rehearsing her exhibition. Regardless he and tried really hard to help her choreograph this exhibition as they had done it together and part of Yuzu felt like it was that corroboration and Zhenya allowing herself to be vulnerable so that she would be able to great a story with her movements on the ice which was why they were together in part. 

Demi Lovato’s lyrics came on and Yuzu couldn’t help but shiver slightly as he watched Zhenya on the ice. Whilst her movements weren’t necessarily the most smooth or perfect there was certain rawness to her movements and an acceptance of her vulnerability that made this performance so compelling. 

He could see that she was emotional as she skated from his position backstage as close to the ice as he could. Part of him wanted to go onto the ice and hug her and comfort Zhenya but he knew that he couldn’t do anything and he hated the fact that he was stuck by the side and Yuzu couldn’t help but look forward to their duet later on in the show.

However, he knew that Zhenya being able to get emotional was important for Zhenya as it was part of how she would perform and what gave her the ‘it’ factor when it came from the skating. Even watching her at the Olympics when he could see the pain and all of the emotions that she had put into it that overfilled her and that had hurt but he reminded himself as the music strengthened that the second part of the program was when she would empower herself and build herself up again into her strength and as Zhenya moved into a fast spin Yuzu couldn’t help but grin knowing that she had moved forwards. 

By the time that the music had ended and Zhenya had hit her ending pose Yuzu found that he had slightly misty eyes. It was one of her most personal programs that Yuzu had ever seen her perform as she completely owned the fact that it was her story that she was telling and she was putting all of the words that she would never let herself say in an interview or to the public and leaving them on the ice to be seen in her movements. 

The lights dimmed and Zhenya ran off of the stage sliding her guards onto her skates and running into Yuzu who was next on the ice. “You did amazing,” Yuzu said gripping Zhenya into a chaste hug. 

“Thanks,” Zhenya whispered into his hair holding Yuzu as tight as she could and Yuzu could feel her heart rate beating against his skin. “It’s your turn to kill it now with your exhibition.”

Yuzu grinned releasing Zhenya realising now that his decision to hug was probably too impulsive but he hoped that he would be able to play it off as being happy about her performing the ex that they had worked on together perfectly, “Well I’m going to be a disappointment after that,” Yuzu said self-deprecatingly.

“That’s rubbish,” Zhenya protested. “Go get on stage and I promise that I’ll be watching from the wings.”

“You better be,” Yuzu teased but he wanted to know that Zhenya would be there when he skated as the presence of her company was a steadying force. Turning he headed towards the ice that seemed to sheen in the darkness and took his starting position as the sombre music entered.

…

By the time the duet came round Zhenya was more nervous than she had ever been as she couldn’t help but relive her fall and waking up in the hospital. Over the last few days she had been recovering some of her memory and it was enough to terrify Zhenya about doing it again. As she started to prepare to go on she felt a warm presence move to stand by her side and when she glanced to her side she realised that it was Yuzu. He was slightly out of breath and his face was crimson but glancing at hit face Zhenya was just glad that he was here ready to perform beside her. 

The performance was going well Zhenya could tell after a matter of seconds as the instrumental music started up and whilst they always had a connection when they skated that fact was especially true now. Zhenya was glad about the duet though because it gave her an excuse to watch Yuzu and she wouldn’t look crazy of stupid for trying to memorise the contour of his face through the silly mask he wore did help matters in that respect. 

Zhenya tore off the mask from Yuzu and was careful to chuck it as far as she could away to ensure that she wouldn’t trip of in and as she twizzled and moved away from Yuzu Zhenya kept her eyes on the mask so that there wouldn’t be any nasty surprises. Yuzu grabbed one hand to pull her in and as they were at their closest he whispered, “Don’t worry I’ve got you.”

Zhenya nodded in response to his statement as she went spinning out away from him and she couldn’t help but relax knowing that Yuzu wasn’t afraid and would be there to grab her if something went wrong. Speeding up the speed of her skating throwing caution to the wind as they music intensified until as the music died she was in Yuzu’s arms swooning. As Yuzu sunk down to the ground with Zhenya still in his arms she couldn’t help but feel like he was going to kiss her but he didn’t and instead just brushed a few strands of hair out of her face his long fingers tracing over her cheekbones. 

When the lights finally went down Zhenya pushed herself to her feet nervously knowing that whilst the audience wouldn’t see them lingering on the ice the other skaters most certainly would considering they were all along the sides ready for the finale. “That was amazing,” she whispered to Yuzu as she offered out a hand and helped pull him to standing. 

“Your performance as Dido was so good that’s the best you have ever done it,” Yuzu said earnestly as they skated towards the edge of the rink. 

Passing Yuzu the guards for his skates as they stepped off of the rink Zhenya responded slightly playful, “Well I must admit I found Hades far too attractive in this version considering his character in the actual myths”

“Did you now,” Yuzu said grabbing a towel from the side and using it to dry his sweaty hair and face as they were both sweating and out of breath after that routine. “I’d have you know that I find that I can be incredibly convincing.”

“I’m sure,” Zhenya said drinking some water and she couldn’t help but wish that they were anywhere other than here because then she would be all over Yuzu at the moment and instead she just met Yuzu’s gaze for a long extended moment.

This said moment was only broken by the broadway track that Tessa had chosen for the finale ‘light’ from the musical ‘next to normal’ which she had claimed was the original pioneering musical in regards to mental health before Evan Hansen which Zhenya wanted to ask Jason about as he was the resident broadway expert when she would be at TCC. As all the skaters that had already changed into their final costumes rushed on Zhenya glanced away from Yuzu knowing that she couldn’t stand here and waste time indefinitely. “I need to change now but I’ll catch you when we go on.”

The next time Zhenya saw Yuzu was backstage as they waited for their cue to join the others and she grinned at him as they stood on either side of the wings to enter. Pushing off fast as the new vocal part came in they twizzled forwards towards the front of the group as the others did stationary arm based movements. 

Stepping back as they entered the formation so that Yuzu was at the top of the pyramid shape whilst Zhenya was In the second row beside Alina Zhenya couldn’t help but feel incredibly happy as she was surrounded by everyone that she was friends with but sad as she wouldn’t see some of these people for months after the end of the tour as she may not run into some of them until the grand prix final as for example she didn’t think any of the grand prix events would coincide with Nathan’s so unless one of them commuted to visit the other there was no way to see him. 

As the song started to die down slowly all of the skaters came together into a circle and Zhenya was careful to position herself by Yuzu to give herself an excuse for making contact with him. As the skaters came closer and closer together until the circle morphed into a massive group hug and Zhenya could see tears forming in a number of the more emotional skaters eyes and Zhenya wouldn’t be entirely honest if she were to say that she hadn’t been at all watery eyed by the end of their final show considering how much her relationships with all of the different skaters had changed from her dating Yuzu even if it was in secret, to her unexpected friendship with Nathan and fledgling friendship with Javier whilst it had ensured there was no breakdown between Alina and Zhenya’s friendship despite them changing coaches as they had just been brought closer together. 

As the hug ended and the lights went out Zhenya couldn’t help but be incredibly sad to think that this crazy experience was over and that in a matter of weeks she’d have to be training again reintroducing her jumps and preparing for competitions in autumn and as sad as she was to leave the tour and the Olympic season behind that it had concluded she couldn’t help but be excited for the new challenged that the next season promised especially with Yuzu at her side at TCC.


	35. This is the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must start this by saying how sorry I am that this chapter is late as it is the last one but I haven’t had access to my laptop whic brings me on to my second that is please don’t lambast me if my spelling and grammar is appalling as I had to type this 3,000+ word chapter on my phone. 
> 
> On a more positive and slightly crazy note here is the last chapter of this doc and I hope that it is good enough as I spent forever on it as I wanted to give them a happy ending at least in this world if not in real life. This has been an amazing journey for me and being able to share it with all of you has been amazing as I feel like I have gotten to know so many of my consistent reviewers with a special mention going to Claire111 who I think has commented on every single chapter if I remember correctly which is crazy and all of the rest of you who have made this process so enjoyable. 
> 
> It is crazy that this story in just over a month has over 300 kudos, over 300 comments and will after this chapter have over 12,000 views and 80, 000 word as I never imagined any of this when I first started to write this story to procrastinate revising for my exams. I have to say thank you to everyone who has supported this story and your comments that inspire me daily and this last chapter is for all of you <3<3

“Stop being useless and help me pack,” Zhenya complained to Yuzu who appeared to be doing his best to stall her progress as he would pick up every garment she wanted to pick and fiddle with it often completely unfolding it meaning there was extra work for Zhenya to do.

Yuzu glanced up at Zhenya and he grinned unrepentantly at her; it would probably be to strong to say that he was deliberately slowing her down but he definitely didn’t want her to hurry up and increase her pace because once she had packed her bag she would be leaving with Alina back to Russia. “Why do you have to go back to Russia,” he whined. “Can’t you just stay here with me in Japan whilst I do my next tour.”

“I’m not signed up for that tour,” Zhenya answered sounding frustrated as she refolded the garments Yuzu had messed up with a sigh and Yuzu almost felt a pang of remorse at giving her extra work to do. “Besides I have commitments back in Russia.”

Shruuging Yuzu glanced down and picking up a fallen t-shirt he folded it up with deft hands before passing it to Zhenya, “Just the Nike thing—you wouldn’t miss it for me.” Widening his eyes he gazed at her as pleadingly as he could.

Zhenya laughed, “I’d miss the nike thing for you perhaps but Jerry comes first and I’m not going to see him whilst I’m in Canada so I need to say goodbye to him and it’s not fair to expect mum to do all of the packing.”

“You are putting a dog over this,” Yuzu asked mock indignant gesturing rapidly between himself and Zhenya.

“Yes,” Zhenya answered bluntly before glancing down at the suitcase trying to work out what she had missed. “Pass me my blue shoes from the door.”

“No,” Yuzu said folding his arms over making a stand against Zhenya—this was completely unfair she expected him to aid her in going home and several hours away from him. “You are going to have to convince me,” he tried to make his tone as serious as he could and fix Zhenya with a steely gaze but he was struggling to remain neutral.

Zhenya rolled her eyes at him and pulling her loose hair out of her face with one hair pushing herself up to her knees to quickly peck him and Yuzu couldn’t help but be incredibly happy at the situation he had found himself in. Sitting back down and releasing her hair so it spiralled around her she asked, “Are you convinced.”

Yuzu frowned slightly as he looked at her to build the suspense but when Zhenya narrowed her eyes slightly at him he leant back almost immediately, reaching out an arm to snag her shoes by the laces and lift them up and drop them in front of her, “Perhaps though I am always open to more convincing.”

“You are such a dork,” Zhenya said frowning at him but he could hear the laughter in her voice as she placed the last garment in her suitcase and folding the lid over zipped it up.

Yuzu grinned he loved the banter that they had developed and he couldn’t help but feel intensely comfortable in her company moreso than almost anyone else that he knew save perhaps Brian. “A lovable dork,” Yuzu corrected.

“Well that’s up for interpretation,” Zhenya said sounding distinctly unimpressed. She pushed herself to her feet as she lifted up her suitcase so she could wheel it to the hotel lobby where Alina’s was waiting. Zhenya had only invited Yuzu to come help her because Alina had packed the night before and was currently hanging out with some of the other skaters as the they were both the first to leave and return home.

“I’m going to miss you like crazy,” Yuzu said standing up to his feet completely to match Zhenya and it was true. It had only been a few days but it felt so much longer and he didn’t know what he would do if he was unable to see Zhenya’s smile or hear her laugh in the two weeks that it would be in which they were separated before they could both reunite in Canada.

Zhenya sighed sounding melancholic, “Tell me about it—you better face time me.”

Yuzu grinned at the idea of seeing her even if it was just on his phone before grimacing at the practicalities of calling her, “Are you aware of the time differences between Moscow and Japan—I’ll have to call you in the middle of the night.”

“Well you said that you loved me,” Zhenya retorted her tone cavalier as she teased him.

Yuzu cast his gaze up to the ceiling as though he was searching for salvation, “Am I not allowed to prefer getting nine hours of sleep to calling you.” He was mostly joking as Yuzu felt that seeing Zhenya on his phone would probably be the equivalent of drinking several shots of caffeine but Yuzu did like his sleep and getting into a routine.

“No,” Zhenya said laughing as she tightened her grasp on the handle of her bag and closed her fist around the door handle as though she was about to open it.

A rush of fear and sadness rushed through Yuzu at the idea of being separated as their relationship was still just in the fledgling stage and taking a few steps forward he outreached an arm, which he wound around Zhenya’s waist and pulled her forwards slightly to press a kiss against her lips.

It was desperate and full of longing and Yuzu put all of his anger at their situation that seemed to be doing their best to separate them so soon after they had gotten together and he could tell that Zhenya felt the same emotions as she kissed him passionately with her free arm winding tightly around his neck to hold him close. It was only when she released her suitcase with her other hand and sent it crashing to ground that they started away from each other.

“What was that for,” Zhenya asked sounding surprisingly unruffled despite her crimson cheeks and slightly swollen lips as she fiddled with her suitcase as she picked it back up again.

Yuzu reached a hand back scratch the back on his neck suddenly self-conscious, “This is our proper goodbye—we can’t do anything like that the second we leave this room.”

“I guess,” Zhenya said looking down slightly subdued. “You’ll come to say goodbye though won’t you?”

He laughed and Zhenya’s question and at the idea that he wouldn’t go to say goodbye to her. It might be hard admittedly to pretend that they were just friends but Yuzu didn’t think he could not go. After a few moments when Zhenya looked at him confused Yuzu elaborated, “Of course I will Zhen you don’t even need to ask that.” Yuzu stepped forwards towards Zhenya and reached an arm out to open the door around her and leaning in whispered, “I just wanted to kiss you again.”

Zhenya blushed and Yuzu felt like making her go that colour as many times as possible should be one of his future goals and she side-stepped his arm neatly pulling her suitcase behind her, “I probably need to go find Alina.” She glanced side to side looking up and down the corridor, “The coast is clear if you want to go now cause there’s no one else around.”

“Sure,” Yuzu agreed before he followed her out of her small room and waited for a few minutes whilst Zhenya locked up her room for the last time and he felt incredibly sad considering all the times that they had spent together in that small room that they would almost certainly never return. Having locked up she turned back to face him and Yuzu swallowed hard before saying, “I’ll see you later then.”

“Later,” Zhenya agreed before turning away and walking slowly off dragging her small suitcase behind her as she headed towards the lobby whilst Yuzu found himself watching her leave. It was only once she rounded the corner that Yuzu spun on one heel and headed towards the living room. During the day it was always filled with skaters playing Mario Kart and Yuzu needed to let out his frustrations at the situation and the escapism that the game promised would do that.

…

“Are you excited to return to Russia,” Zhenya asked Alina as they sat in the taxi being driven back to the airport. The other skaters had come quickly to say bye but she hadn’t seen Yuzu and she couldn’t hep but feel slightly hurt as their taxi was supposed to be here

“Definitely,” Alina agreed. “I’ll be in Novogorsk in a matter of days after I get home.”

Zhenya swallowed hard envisioning Novogorsk in her head. She’d been going there since she was 11 and she was now 18 and it was the first time she wouldn’t be there. “You need to take a photo with the pink ball and send it to me.”

“Of course,” Alina agreed. “I’m not sure how much Eteri will let me say to you but a picture of a pink ball should be allowed. You need to keep me updated on how your training in Canada goes.”

“I will. I’m so excited,” Zhenya confided. “I’m still slightly terrified but I do know everyone there and I love meeting new people and travelling.” She was more than a little bit terrified but Jason had reached out to her via instagram and Gabby and her had been planning out a girls day during the tour. Besides Yuzu would be there which was more than enough for her in regards to people and she knew that he’d look out for her in his own way. “Have you seen the blades that Misha has organised for me?”

“The rose gold ones,” Alina responded quickly. “They are so pretty and they will look amazing in your programs next season. Do you think I can get Misha to get me a pair?”

Zhenya laughed at Alina’s enthusiastic question, “I can’t see why not. What colour would you choose cause I have rose gold, Yuzu has black and Boyang gold as far as I know?”

“I’m not sure it would depend I think,” Alina answered pursing her lips slightly in thought and Zhenya couldn’t help but grin at the younger girl. They may be on opposing teams and fierce competitors but that didn’t mean that she didn’t like the younger girl who she had grown up with for the last 3 years. “If I could choose any colour I’d probably have them be a chrome colour cause that would be cool.”

“Eteri wouldn’t like that,” Zhenya said imagining the chrome colour and considering that she had known Eteri since she was 7 that wasn’t something she would go for.

Alina giggled before her face sobered up and she nodded in agreement, “Maybe brass then—I have no idea.”

By the time they finally drew up to airport Zhenya felt herself almost getting upset as when she returned to Russia she would have to pack and prepare to leave Russia and everything that she had every known. Furthermore she wouldn’t be able to see people like Alina and Polina and even the younger juniors without travelling back to Russia and facing Eteri’s wrath.  
Getting out of the car and grabbing their suitcases they moved quickly through the airport with Zhenya’s rudimentary Japanese in combination with her English sufficient to navigate them through with ease.

They had just checked their bags in and where moving through security when Zhenya received a curse tap on her shoulder and was informed that both her and her younger travelling companion where obliged to go with them into a small adjoining room.

Zhenya couldn’t help but panic wondering what had gone wrong. Was there a problem with their visas or had one of the other skaters snuck an illegal substance into their suitcases? By the time she had gathered up Alina and all of their possessions the security guard seemed unimpressed with them and inside Zhenya was terrified that they wouldn’t be able to leave Japan but at least then she could spend more time with Yuzu.

“What is it?” Zhenya asked curiously but the security guard either didn’t understand or didn’t want to respond and whilst Zhenya wracked her brain trying to translate it into Japanese she couldn’t think of the correct words.

They turned the corner and the security guard opened up an ominous looking grey door to reveal a darkened room and Zhenya couldn’t help but be incredibly confused about everything that had happened as nothing like this had happened on any flight of hers before. However when the lights where turned suddenly it all made sense.

Inside the room were all of the other skaters from the tour who had clearly come here earlier, which is why they hadn’t been able to say goodbye to them properly. Glancing around Zhenya quickly spotted lurking at the back and he winked at her before turning to engage Javier in conversation. “What is this?” Alina asked confused at the situation whilst Zhenya still wasn’t able to manage complete sentences.

“Surprise,” Nathan joked from where he stood at the front. “We thought we should give you two a proper goodbye as you are the first to go home.”

“Did you organise this,” Zhenya asked surprised before taking a few steps and giving Nathan a quick hug. The entire gesture was extraordinarily thoughtful and kind for Nathan to bring the skaters to the airport to say goodbye in a unique manner.

Nathan stepped back out of her hug once Zhenya released him and after a moment of hesitation he said, “It was Yuzu’s idea and he’s the one who called up the airline—I just organised the skaters and the transport.”

“You did this,” Zhenya asked her tone incredulous and surprised but not hostile but she couldn’t help but be confused. It was the type for thoughtful gesture that Yuzu would come up with though and she couldn’t help but feel touched at his concern though she reminded herself that it wasn’t all for her.

Yuzu took a couple steps forward towards the front of the group of skaters, “I didn’t do much—I just thought it would be nicer than the hotel lobby and more private. My sponsors basically run the airport so I just called them up and asked nicely.”

“Thanks,” Alina said and Zhenya didn’t want to say anything on top in case it looked suspicious but instead smiled at Yuzu as gratefully as she possibly could. It was only when she realised that Alina was stepping forward to hug Yuzu that there was a problem. “This is an amazing end to my first tour,” Alina said earnestly wrapping Yuzu in a tight hug and Zhenya tried to hold back a laugh at Yuzu and his slight awkwardness in response to her touch.

Then Alina stepped away and Zhenya found herself walking towards Yuzu to give him a thank you and good-bye hug and she could see Alina hugging Satoko and Wakaba out of the corner of her eye. Yuzu’s touch was as intoxicating as ever and Zhenya struggled not to just lean up and kiss him or fix his dishevelled hair.

“Do you know that the security guard you sent terrified me,” Zhenya teased mumbling into his shoulder.

She could feel Yuzu laugh beneath her, “I told him to on the phone.” Zhenya glanced up and stepped slightly away from Yuzu breaking slightly away glaring up at him with murderous eyes though she was struggling to hold back a laugh.

They were about to step away when she heard from the group Boyang who was always clueless say, “I thought you told me they were going to kiss.” His tone sounded like he was trying to whisper but it was loud enough that everyone could hear him.

“I thought they were,” Shoma hissed back similarly loudly and Yuzu cleared his throat hard as though to alert them to the fact that everyone could hear what they were saying.

Zhenya raised her eyebrows attempting to play dumb though inside she was panicking, “What are you talking about?” Even as she played the words over in her head she hated them as her voice was overly high and she sounded stupid.

“You really didn’t think we had noticed,” Gabby said unimpressed from where stood in the middle of the group. “You two weren’t exactly very subtle about the fact that you were jumping each other every five minutes.”

Zhenya blushed and she felt her heart drop into her boots at this realisation. “Like you definitely weren’t picking up your skates when I walked in on you and Yuzu,” Wakaba pointed out and Zhenya sighed—she had thought they were a little more subtle than they appeared to be.

“And I could see Yuzu’s contact details when you were texting him during the movie,” Alina pointed out and Zhenya spun to see the smaller girl beside her who had seemingly turned on her.

“And Yuzu doesn’t take 15 minutes on the toilet,” Shoma pointed out sagely.

Boyang sent Shoma a dirty look clearly annoyed about the situation from earlier when they had outed the entire situation, “Only because he actually eats his vegetables.”

The two developed into a small argument in undertones and Zhenya couldn’t help but smile before asking the question that was truly on her mind, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You guys would tell us on your own time,” Nathan said when no one else seemed willing to answer. “Admittedly we all thought that was why Yuzu had organised for us to meet you here which was why we were so confused by you two not outing yourselves here.” At this last phrase Nathan cast an unimpressed look at Boyang who was still squabbling with Shoma.

Zhenya glanced at Yuzu slightly unsure of what to do and was about to say something when Scott having checked his watch informed them that Alina and Zhenya had to get moving to catch their flight.

At this a cry went around the group carried by all of the skaters except Scott who look very unimpressed and was just checking his watch saying, “Kiss. Kiss.”

Blushing again Zhenya bit her lip as she looked at Yuzu unsure of what was the exact protocol in this situation. “I don’t mind,” Yuzu whispered to Zhenya his voice hidden by the clamouring skaters and instead of saying anything Zhenya took one step forward and kissed Yuzu to answer.

She could hear the whooping of the other skaters and the sound of the blush in her ears and she could feel Yuzu smile against her lips before he broke away and Zhenya couldn’t help but be ecstatic by everyone’s reaction and the fact that they didn’t need to lie anymore to their friends though knowing htat it had been pointless all along was infuriating. But as she kissed Yuzu surrounded by all of her friends with one of Yuzu’s hands knotted in her hair and Scott complaining about how they had to get going Zhenya couldn’t help but be unreasonably and utterly optimistic about the future.


	36. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you guys are probably not expecting this and I hope that all of my original readers are still around but I did promise that I was going to have an epilogue of sorts after a week or so and it's been 10 days so it is about time IMO and I was really down after reading some of the hate that Zhenya receives online so I decided to write this as a form of defiance. Anyways I was just wondering if you would guys would like a sequel to this story because whilst initially, I wasn't planning to write a sequel I've been having several ideas for where I would want to go though I will only write it if you would like to read it. I hope you all enjoy this epilogue as I literally spent hours on it and thanks as always for supporting me xxxx

“Shush Jason,” Zhenya said scolding the American skater who was laughing quietly beside her. 

“I’m sorry Zhenya but this is too absurd,” Jason complained. “Why are we sneaking into TCC and why for that matter did you get me to pick you up. Surely you’d prefer Yuzu to.”

Zhenya rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks, “Gabby told you about me and him didn’t she.” She had no problem with Jason knowing he had become one of her closest friends in the weeks she had spent in Canada before she had returned to Japan for her last tour but she hoped that it wouldn’t spiral out of control and leak to the press.

“Maybe,” Jason admitted glancing away from Zhenya towards the floor. “But I did nag her about it because I was almost certain that there was something going on until she had to tell me. “ Zhenya shot a questioning look at Jason before he elaborated, “You weren’t exactly subtle you talked about him all of the time when we were sightseeing wondering if Yuzu had seen this or that before and then you face timed him incessantly before and after training.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Zhenya complained turning her mouth up at the corners as she thought about what Jason was saying though he may have been a little more accurate then Zhenya might like. In both Canada and Japan all she had been thinking about was Yuzu and what he would be doing and hoping that his mind wouldn’t have changed. She hadn’t thought that that would be the situation considering the fact that he seemed normal during their conversations but he had been slightly distant. “And firstly I can’t invite Yuzu to pick me up considering the fact that he will get mobbed at the airport and we are trying to keep it secret at least from the press and fans.”

Jason nodded a few times as though he was taking in what Zhenya had said to him, “But why are we sneaking into to TCC you could have organised for him to wait in the car or even just meet you as soon as you arrived.”

“Well that was the plan but I wanted to get home early and I thought this way I could surprise him,” Zhenya explained. It had been an impulse decision of hers to move her flight a day earlier but she had no commitments left in Japan and she couldn’t help but want to go back to TCC again. “And we aren’t sneaking very well if you keep on talking to me and making a racket.”

“Jeez Z you need to relax,” Jason complained. “I’ll see you at the rink anyway considering that there’s no point me sneaking around with you considering that I am both supposed to be here and running late for my training session.” He turned before leaving and Zhenya sighed as she watched him leave her behind but he did have a point in that there was n point him sneaking around with her as it would just make them more likely to be caught.

Tiptoeing through the corridors Zhenya stuck to the smaller corridors even though she knew from Gabby that Yuzu ought be on the ice now and would be finishing up in a few minutes. She couldn’t help but feel excited about the idea of seeing him again and she found herself running through every interaction that the pair of them had had together in the last few weeks. The way it had worked out had ended up being so cruel with Yuzu spending the first few weeks in Japan whilst Zhenya had been in Canada and Russia and then Yuzu returned to Canada but Zhenya had had her show in japan. They had planned to meet in between but there hadn’t been enough time between the pair of them to be able to meet comfortably and their training and preparation had to be the priority for them going forwards if they wanted to make whatever they had work.

Entering the changing room by the edge of the rink Zhenya set her skates down in her cubbyhole besides Gabby’s which was full meaning that the other girl must be on the ice right now. 

“I can’t believe that you are back,” a small voice said from behind Zhenya and she turned to see one of the small younger skaters who also skated at TCC. “I thought you wouldn’t be back till tomorrow.”

“Yeah well I had nothing planned so I moved my flight,” Zhenya said grinning as she turned to the younger girl. One of the things she had enjoyed the most when she had arrived in Canada were meeting all of the younger skaters who were training there—one of her favourite thing from Eteri’s had been getting to know all of the juniors and looking out for them as best as she could as she had gone already through everything and come out the other side. “How has your training been since I’ve been away?”

“It’s been really good,” the younger girl said grinning and Zhenya could see that she was missing a tooth. “I think I’ll be able to compete way better this year as I’ve been improving so much recently”

Zhenya smiled warmly, “That’s so great. You’ll be awesome if you keep on training hard like you have been.” Zhenya glanced at her watch to determine the time only to realise that Yuzu’s session should have just ended, “Is it okay if I run I just want to catch someone before they leave.”

“Sure,” the younger girl replied and Zhenya spared her one last look before turning and leaving the changing room in favour of the ice. 

The rink itself was cold and Zhenya found herself shivering slightly through her light jacket, Glancing around the rink she could see the different skaters on the ice training until finally she could spot Yuzu’s lean dark figure on the ice his movements clear and fluid against the bright white ice. He had just stopped and Zhenya was about to call out his name when she saw a matching figure in black skate up to him and Yuzu’s taller figure wrap the person who had to be a girl based off of the proportions in a hug. 

Zhenya couldn’t look away from the pair of them on the ice and she felt all of her happiness and excitement drain away whilst something inside her felt as though it was squeezing her stomach together. Fighting the urge to retch Zhenya couldn’t help but wish that she hadn’t come earlier and had instead stuck to the previous plan but she was glad in a twisted way that she had known this.

“Zhenya you are back,” a voice squealed and Zhenya glanced around to see that Gabby had spotted her and was skating over as fast as she could. “I’d missed you so much.”

Zhenya forced a laugh onto her face in response to Gabby wrapping her in a tight hug almost choking all of the air out of her lungs, “Me too girl.” Zhenya separated from Gabby after a few moments, “How have you been?”

“Busy,” Gabby said frowning. “We just started working on choreo and it’s harder than ever.”

“You’ll be amazing Gabs I promise,” Zhenya said grinning. “You need to show it to me later okay I bet it will be awesome.” 

“Zhenya,” a voice called out and Zhenya glanced around Gabby to see the figure that she had identified as Yuzu’s earlier skating towards her. “You are back.”

Gabby stepped back skating away back towards her coach who she had abandoned and Yuzu skated towards Zhenya and when she saw how Yuzu looked at her she could almost forget whatever she had seen on the ice. “Yep,” Zhenya agreed self-consciously nervously toying with the hem on her t-shirt. 

He came to a stop in front of her and just stared at Zhenya who squirmed under his gaze off a few moments before stepping forwards and wrapping her in a crushing hug burying his head in Zhenya’s dark hair whilst Zhenya wound her arms around Yuzu as tight as she could. “I’d missed you so much.”

“Me too,” Zhenya agreed completely honestly feeling the peculiar warmth and safeness that she only felt when she was around Yuzu and she didn’t even care about whatever she had seen because she knew now that he was here and they were together that there was nothing she should worry about. 

“You are all I’ve thought about since we parted,” Yuzu said grinning separating enough from Zhenya so that he could see her face whilst still holding her torso close and pressed up against his. 

Zhenya couldn’t help but grin, “Tell me about it.” He paused for a second and Zhenya couldn’t help but feel overcome by their reunion and his presence or even aura if that didn't sound stupid which wasn’t able to come across when she was talking on the phone or via face time to Yuzu. 

“You are so beautiful and I really want to kiss you right now,” Yuzu whispered his hot breath hitting Zhenya’s face and without missing a beat Zhenya pushed herself up locking her hands around his neck to kiss him.

She had missed his touch, the feeling of his hands on her and the heat that pooled within her stomach as it flipped in response to his lips. She reached her hands up to play with the ends of his hair and she felt Yuzu groan against her lips and his hands slipped down her back to hold her tightly around her waist forcing Zhenya to arch her back into his touch. 

They pulled away as they both ran out of breath and Yuzu smiled at Zhenya shyly though his pupils were dilated and Zhenya could feel herself breathing faster as though she had just completed a free skate. “What are you doing here though—I was going to pick you up tomorrow. I had it all planned,” he pouted at this and Zhenya couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Aren’t you glad I’m here early though,” Zhenya teased leaning in towards Yuzu. “And isn’t this a good surprise for you?”

“Maybe,” Yuzu said leaning into to peck Zhenya again and she found herself grinning in response to his touch and that he wasn’t annoyed by her decision to come early to TCC throwing off his plans. “How did you get here?”

Zhenya laughed at this, “I was at TCC for three weeks before I went back to Russia.” Yuzu raised an eyebrow at her dubiously; “Jason was free so he gave me a ride.”

“Should I be jealous,” Yuzu asked teasing from where he stood in front of Zhenya elevated due to the added height his skates gave him. 

“Nah we’re totally platonic,” Zhenya explained simply frowning slightly to dissuade him. Behind Yuzu’s shoulder, she could see the girl who Yuzu had been hugging and Zhenya grinned slightly realising the opening this gave her. “Should I be jealous of that girl you were just with on the ice.”

“Her,” Yuzu said laughing now and Zhenya pursed her lips at him. “I don’t even know her name—I literally met her a ten minutes ago.” Yuzu paused to take in Zhenya before adding with an evil grin,” Are you jealous?”

“No,” Zhenya said brushing her hair out of her face before bursting into laughter as she realised what they were talking about properly.

Yuzu frowned at Zhenya confused, “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Zhenya said struggling to suppress her laughter. “It’s just you see back at the beginning of the tour I only initially hung out with Nathan to make you jealous until I actually became friends with him. The other girls recommended it to me. It’s just crazy that we have come so far.” Zhenya could still remember sitting on that floor her legs crossed whilst the other girls recommended what she ought to do. “They came up for a name for their plan and everything. 

Yuzu hesitated and Zhenya hoped that he wouldn’t be mad at her in reaction to her confession, as Zhenya had never told him about the girls' plan. “You played me,” he said and his voice was suspiciously calm and his face was still and Zhenya was uncertain afraid that she had just ruined everything. 

After a few moments however she spotted his eyes dancing with merriment and his lips quivering before he dissolved into laughter, “You little minx. I think you deserve punishment.”

Zhenya laughed in relief before asking, “What punishment.” She had scarcely finished her words before she felt everything spinning underneath her and her feet lost contact with the floor ad she squealed when Yuzu lifted her up and swung her over his shoulder in a fireman lift. “What are you doing,” she said between laughs as he hit Yuzu in the bag.

“Punishing you,” Yuzu joked as he stepped onto the ice and with Zhenya laid out on his shoulder he took several steps easily sliding forwards on the ice gaining speed and Zhenya couldn’t help but laugh as her hair fell forwards until it was all dangling loose down Yuzu’s back as a result of gravity.

Zhenya screamed as Yuzu spun around in a set of twizzles, “I’m not wearing skates at the moment.” She had no idea what Yuzu was doing but her heart was racing faster than it ever had even when Yuzu had been kissing her only a few minutes ago. 

“Then I better not drop you,” Yuzu joked and Zhenya found herself clutching onto Yuzu’s black training clothes as hard as she could balling them up in her hands desperately though she knew it probably wouldn't do anything if she slipped out of his grip.

“If you drop me I think me not wearing skates is going to be the least of my problems,” Zhenya retorted looking down at the ice which was painful enough to fall onto from a jump let alone when she was balanced precariously on Yuzu. He made one more lap of the rink before he set Zhenya back down where he had picked her up and Zhenya swayed slightly confused by the feeling of solid ground beneath her feet. 

Swinging her hair pack so it was out of her face Zhenya glanced up at Yuzu unsure, “You aren’t mad though—cause I felt really bad for using both you and Nathan at the time.”

“No Zhenya,” Yuzu said patiently and Zhenya felt a smile cross her face in reaction to his words. “It really doesn’t matter to me and for all we know we might not have ended up together otherwise and that matters to me far more than how we ended up getting together.”

“You sure?” Zhenya asked again trying to ensure that they were completely fine and Yuzu wasn’t just projecting a happy front to make her happy even if he was annoyed beneath the surface. 

“Of course,” Yuzu said stepping off the ice and sliding his guards back onto his skates and slinging an arm over Zhenya’s shoulders the added height from his skates making him loom over the already petit Zhenya. “So do you want a tour of TCC or what?”

“I have been here for 3 weeks already you know that Yuzu,” Zhenya said laughing.

Yuzu cast her a disparaging look, “And I’ve been here for seven years so shut up and let me show you around okay and you had better at least pretend to be interested when I show you around.”

“Sure,” Zhenya agreed winding one of her hands around Yuzu’s waist as they left the ice rink together.


End file.
